Is This Love That I'm Feeling?
by TheSilverback
Summary: The Azugirls begin to confront their true feelings, but it won't be a smooth road. Rated for language and shoujoai which is a secret code meaning girlxgirl, so if you don't like that, don't read this. NO OC PAIRINGS IN THIS STORY! Chapter 8 is here!
1. Little miss potty mouth

**Disclaimer:** Of course you know I don't own Azumanga Daioh.

This story is inspired by the ending moments of episode 13 of the anime. I am sure you will recognize elements of it at the beginning. But I didn't want to repeat it exactly because 1: you have seen it already and 2: I didn't want to be tied to a particular moment in the timeline. So I went with the idea the Tomo is always obnoxious and competitive, and she probably steals Yomi's glasses often (you see it a few times in the eyecatch in the middle of episodes).

* * *

Yomi snatched her glasses back from Tomo, who had been wearing them. She quickly adjusted them back on herself. She didn't like being without her glasses, especially outdoors. During the brief period Tomo had captured them to mock Yomi, the faces of her friends had been reduced to indistinct blurs. 

Tomo was saying, "That was exactly the face Yomi made. And it wasn't even a competition at all. Yomi just stood there in shock while I ate the whole thing. She ended up with nothing at all for dinner that night but one boiled egg! Hahaha!"

"Ok, You won a noodle eating contest with her, but why do you work so hard to do things that piss everyone off?" Kagura asked.

"Yeah, no shit." muttered Yomi.

"Yeah, no shit", echoed Chiyo-chan. A dead silence fell over the five other girls as they turned their heads toward the tiny girl with pigtails. Her face turned beet red as she took in the shocked looks she was getting from her friends. "Oh no, did I actually say that?"

"You sure did!" Tomo laughed, giving Chiyo a thumbs up. "I never imagined in a million years such a word could come out of your mouth. Although, it just seems kinda wrong somehow."

"So why did you give her a thumbs-up then if you aren't trying to encourage it?" Yomi snapped at her.

"I am very sorry everyone," Chiyo sniffed with a sudden apologetic bow. "I don't know what has come over me lately. It seems these bad words just get stuck in my head and once in a while they want to pop out for no reason."

Sakaki stepped forward and put a forgiving hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "It's all right, don't let it get you down. You made a mistake and a heartfelt apology. Besides, you aren't the one who started it," she glanced up at Kagura and Yomi, both girls blushing for a moment in quiet shame.

Tomo burst out laughing "Oh yeah, you should hear some of the filth that comes out of Yomi's mouth some days! Hahahaha!"

"Knock it off Tomo. Chiyo seems pretty upset by this".

"Are you alright?" asked Sakaki, seeing the distressed look on the youngest girl's face.

"Well, it is true that some of my friends do use harsh language sometimes when I am around, but to be honest, I hear most of these things from Miss Yukari in class."

"Ain't that the truth!" Osaka exclaimed. "Why just the other day when she caught me sleeping in class she said I would never pass my entrance exams if I chose to spend my days napping like some lazy baka."

Kagura looked at her "You do know that is totally not what we are talking about, Osaka. I mean, yeah, that may be rude, but it isn't the same as swearing. And besides, there is probably some truth to that too". Osaka gave her a wounded look, and the athlete quickly added "Not that I am any better. Heck, you get better grades than I do. Everyone knows that."

"My parents would be so upset with me if they heard me using words like that. And it almost happened just the other day."

"Really?" Tomo said eagerly. "So what happened? What would cause the mighty child prodigy Chiyo-chan to burst out with profanity?"

"It was just an accident. I was carrying in some groceries from the car. My father had bought some bell peppers and I was running back into the house with the bag, trying to be helpful. It was raining very hard. But I slipped in the driveway and dropped the bag and they went rolling everywhere. I even scraped my knee." She pointed to a small scuff mark on her leg which looked minor and almost completely healed.

"Bell peppers, eh?" remarked Yomi. "I love those! Some of them are very hot and sweet at the same time. Plus they are an all-natural fat-free food!" She rubbed her hands together thinking about the delicious crunchy taste. "And they come in all colors too, don't they?"

"Oh yes! Yellow, red or green. They even have orange colored ones this week".

"Is that what kind your dad got?" Yomi asked.

"No, he seems to prefer the red ones"

"The red ones?" Sakaki said with a start, taking a step backwards.

"Yes, he likes them very much. We all do." Chiyo wore a puzzled expression at her tall friend's reaction.

"So what was this nasty word that you almost said in front of your dad?" Tomo asked.

Kagura stepped forward. "Hey, it doesn't help her to ask her to repeat it. Besides, knowing you and your big mouth, you will be teasing her about it for a week. But still…" she paused "you could tell me. I won't repeat it"

Chiyo looked uncertain then leaned up close to Kagura's ear as the swimmer bent down. She whispered something quietly and Kagura burst out laughing "No way! No way you could say something like that! But then again… I guess you just did, didn't you?"

The little girl's face reddened once more and Tomo jumped forward, waving her arms and dancing around the two girls. "Come on, me too, tell me too! It's not fair! It's not fair I say!"

"Give it a rest, loudmouth". Yomi seemed to be getting quite irritated with the wildcat's outbursts. "Besides, the best thing to do is just change the subject. Chiyo, you have nothing to be ashamed of. The fact that you didn't swear in front of you father despite the rain, peppers and your injury," she pointed to Chiyo's knee, "that shows the true strength of your character. You set an example that others should follow, myself included." She looked up to see Sakaki give a small smile and an approving nod.

"Really? Do you think so? Thank you Miss Yomi, those are very kind words".

"Ha! Not like the words she normally uses. Let me tell you a story about something shocking she said during our last year of middle school. She had slipped on the stairs because some first year had dropped some papers…" Tomo grabbed Yomi's glasses once again and quickly put them on. "And just like this, she stuck her nose in the air and said…"

"I told you to shut up!" Yomi yelled, "and quit taking my glasses like that!" She grabbed them back from Tomo, but the wildcat brought up her hand to hold them on her face for a moment longer.

_**Snap**_

Each girl was now holding one half of a pair of glasses. The bridge between the two lenses had broken. A silence fell over the girls.

"Umm, here you go," Tomo offered up her half of the glasses. "Sorry, I didn't think you would get so huffy about it. Really."

"So now this is my fault? Dammit Tomo".

"Hey, I thought you said we shouldn't swear in front of innocent little Chiyo here. Man, what kind of example do you think you are setting? Besides, we can fix it. We will just use some tape in the middle. You know, you always see those geeky otaku guys with tape holding their glasses together. And maybe you will make friends with them and get a boyfriend at long last out of all this. So in the end, this could be a good thing!"

Yomi squinted at the two broken pieces in her hands, inspecting them as best she could. "I am not going to go through the rest of the school year with taped up glasses. And besides, the center piece is broken right up next to the lens. You can't tape that."

"Ok glue it then. Whatever. I can fix it for you so don't worry about it. I already said I was sorry."

"You called that an apology? Do you know how much these cost?! My mother just bought these for me at the beginning of this school year, a new prescription. My dad is going to flip. They were so expensive."

Osaka spoke up again. "So is that it for you Yomi? Are you going to be blind from now on? Because if so, I bet Chiyo-chan would let you borrow Mr. Tadakichi. He would make a good seeing eye dog. And he is very faithful."

"No, I have my old pair of glasses at home that I can wear until my parents can get these repaired. These lenses are still good I think." Kagura was now standing next to Yomi and agreed that there were no scratches or visible problems other than the broken frame.

Yomi looked up and down the street. "What street is the cross street? Isn't that Megagamers over there?" she pointed.

"No, that is Kentucky Fried Chicken. Megagamers is a block up. Here, I'll go with you", Tomo said.

Yomi jerked her arm away from Tomo. "No thanks. I think I have exceeded my daily-recommended dosage of Tomo already. I don't need you leading me into a men's public bath house for a laugh again."

"Again?" asked Chiyo.

"Uh, never mind. And Osaka, thanks for your concern but I'm not that blind. Just… things get blurry at a distance. And anything up too close. Right out here it's ok though." And she put her hand out to about arms length in front of her.

Kagura took Yomi's left elbow in a firm grip. "I am walking you home. No buts! I have to go that way anyhow to meet my dad. So you tell me where we are going and I will get you there." She turned to face the others. "See you all at school tomorrow."

As they started walking, Yomi gave a slight protest that she didn't want to be a burden, but Kagura insisted that she was heading this way anyhow. "Besides, right now I am so pissed off that if you don't let me come with you, I am liable to go back there and beat the hell out of Tomo."

The other girls were turning the corner to head toward their homes, but they caught that last sentence. As they walked silently home, Tomo kept hearing it in her head. _Beat the hell out of me? I know I have done stuff in the past to piss off Kagura, and we have wrestled around jokingly before, but she sounded serious. Maybe I really did cross the line this time. And if Kagura is that angry, how mad must Yomi be?_

Unnoticed by the others, a hot tear slid down Tomo's cheek. She quickly wiped it away and thought _Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will make it up to her somehow. She's always been there for me. How could I have been so thoughtless? Yomi is my oldest, best friend. No, she is more than that._

She turned off to the path that led to her home without a word to her friends, lost in her own world of thoughts and regrets.

_Tomorrow. Somehow I'll make it right tomorrow._

* * *

A/N: I originally planned this first bit to be much shorter, and chapter two to be the bulk of the first chapter. But this ran on much longer than I intended so I decided to break it apart and end chapter one here. Chapter two is in my head, I just need to get it written down. We haven't got to the shoujo-ai yet, although it is coming up fast. And I plan to tone down the swearing a lot in future bits, it was just the impetus to start this story. No, our sweet little Chiyo won't be swearing any more. 

So, what do you think my pairings will be? Heh heh heh, we will just have to wait and see.

Hit that review button if you wish! Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	2. First stirrings

**Disclaimer:** Much to my dismay, I still don't own Azumanga Daioh.

Notice: I am having some annoying problem with my email, so I am not receiving author and story alerts from ff dot net. It also seems to have killed any direct messages sent to me. Until I get this fixed, I have put a little note in my profile about it, so enough about it here. On to the story!

* * *

Tomo fell hard onto the futon. How had this day turned to crap so suddenly? She lay on her back staring at the overhead light without blinking. The fluorescent circle stared back at her like a white eye. It didn't blink either.

This morning had been so much fun. Yukari was in a rare good mood today and had basically played games with the class all day. When Chiyo had asked about the class schoolwork, Yukari had waved her hand and said, "Lighten up, Chiyo!" and then in English said "All work and no play makes Tanizaki a dull girl". She made Chiyo translate it and write it on the board. That was the only schoolwork for language class today.

PE class was just as fun. Miss Kurosawa seemed very laid back as well, and since the pool had been opened, she allowed free style swimming. Kagura had organized a few girls into racing teams for fun, mostly those from the swim team. Sakaki had spent most of that day with Chiyo, she thought. No, then again she remembered Kaorin with her too. Even though Kaorin was in a different class this year, they still combined the PE classes for the girls' swimming.

Mr. Kimura had showed up outside the pool enclosure again. Tomo remembered hiding beside Yomi in the water just out of sight and then trying to splash a wave of water in his direction. She missed him, but then he was sponging it up with his handkerchief, saying "Pool water… Pool water". That was just plain weird. Not as creepy as when he yelled "Thank you!" a minute later and ran off clutching that damp napkin. Kimura was definitely a freak, but a funny freak. You almost had to feel sorry for him. Almost.

The door of Tomo's room slid open. She looked in that direction but could only see a huge floating green circle. The afterimage of staring at that light. It didn't matter. She already knew who it was. She heard the footsteps enter the room and the drawers being opened. Tomo's gaze drifted back to the ceiling, this time looking just a bit left of the light.

"Did you take my earrings? The gold ones with the little dangle?" she heard.

"No"

"Well they're not here. Where are they?"

"Somewhere else, I suppose," was Tomo's flat reply. Meiko was her step-sister, and while they had to live in the same house, even share the same room, no one could make them get along. She shifted her eyes to the right of the light, just a bit.

It was the walk home where it all fell apart. She knew that. She had pushed and poked and teased, same as any other day. Only today it had gone too far. She had actually broken something valuable of Yomi's. Something she certainly didn't have the money to replace. But it wasn't just the glasses that had been broken. Deep down, Tomo felt it. She had broken something inside Yomi. Trust? Friendship? For what?

Tomo sighed and blinked once, moving her focus up a little higher. Was it too late? She knew better than to call tonight, or worse, one of her surprise visits to the window. No, Yomi just needed some time to cool off.

"Look, I'll give you 100 yen if you help me find them."

"A hundred yen? Wow, I could almost buy a whole can of juice for that. Why don't you go ask your brother, big spender? I've seen him wear your stuff before."

She heard the door close with a smack and she turned slightly on the futon, still looking at the ceiling. After a moment she sat up and closed her eyes. All she could see were the afterimages of the light, five glowing circles, green and yellow, linked together like the Olympic symbol.

"Victory is mine!" she shouted and raised her arms up in a triumphant V above her head and imagined the roar of the cheering crowd as she took her victory lap around the stadium. In her mind she held aloft the giant white flag with a huge red sun emblazoned in the center as her six gold medals bounced against her chest with every long stride.

Tomo let out a sigh. Somehow, tonight it just didn't make her feel better like it usually did. She fell back onto the futon and rolled onto her side, closing her eyes and letting the images fade.

Tomorrow would have to be a better day than this.

* * *

The two girls arrived at the Mizuhara residence without any problems. As they stood on the sidewalk, Yomi thanked Kagura for coming with her. Kagura smiled at her and there was an awkward moment where neither one of them knew what to say.

Yomi broke the silence by inviting Kagura inside. After all, it would be common courtesy. "Would you like a cup of tea, or maybe some juice?" she offered, knowing that Kagura was supposed to go meet her father at the train station. She didn't expect her to accept.

"Sure, a juice would be great."

"Oh, ok, come on in." Yomi opened the front door and they both went in. Slipping off their shoes, Yomi offered a pair of green guest slippers to Kagura. "Would you like to come see my room? I have to go there to get my glasses."

"Mmm." Kagura smiled and followed behind. "Beautiful house you have." She noticed the wide flat screen TV and the comfortable looking couch in the living room. Her gaze drifted away from the furnishings and fell on Yomi walking down the hall. The bounce of her wavy hair. The gentle sway of her hips that made the hem of her skirt dance... just above the tops of those stockings. "Beautiful," she murmured.

Kagura jerked her head up and looked around at her surroundings, blushing furiously. Yomi slid open the door to her room and quickly moved toward the desk. "Yeah, well both of my parents work. You kind of have to today to live in Tokyo. In fact they actually work at the same brokerage firm." She opened a drawer and drew out a small rectangular box. Flipping it open, she pulled out pair of glasses and put them on. "That's how they met, when my dad was a salaryman and mom was starting..." Yomi paused, looking at her visitor's still reddened face.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to brag about it or anything. Really, it's just a house and..."

"No, that's not it. I mean, not a problem. It really is nice." Kagura felt like she was babbling. "So this is your room, huh?"

"Yeah," Yomi answered, unsure if she had accidentally offended her guest. "Nothing like Chiyo-chan's place though! Man, did you see the size of that lawn? I am surprised she takes Mr. Tadakichi out for walks. He has enough room to run all over the place. Oh! Let me go get you that juice. I'll be right back."

Kagura sat down on the edge of the bed, her head spinning. _I feel like such an idiot! What was that all about? _

Yomi trotted into the kitchen and retrieved two icy cold juices from the refrigerator. _What was that all about? I really don't know anything about Kagura's family. Maybe I said something stupid._ She spotted a bag of cookies and almost grabbed those too, but then switched to a box of rice crackers instead.

Returning to her room, she deposited her treats on the bed, letting Kagura pick which flavor of juice she liked best. "It's really nice for you to come visit. I think we have only met up at Chiyo's house before."

"Yeah, being busy with the swim team and all, I don't get much time to visit friends as much as I'd like. Although I did end up visiting Osaka's house once."

Yomi perked up, "Oh yeah? What was it like? I have always wondered."

"Eh, pretty normal really. Except for all the monkeys. You just don't expect _that many_ monkeys running loose in someone's house here in the city."

Yomi burst out laughing, "What? You're kidding? What in the heck?"

Kagura grinned at last, "Yeah, I am just kidding. But I had you going for a second, didn't I?"

Both girls laughed and talked some more. Yomi stretched out on the bed and Kagura sat beside her. They had so much fun sharing funny stories that it was over an hour later when Yomi noticed the clock.

"Oh no, Kagura! I've made you late to meet your dad!"

The athlete didn't seem that worried about it. "Oh, it's ok."

Yomi furrowed her brow and said, "I don't want to be the cause of you getting in trouble."

"No really don't worry about it." When Kagura could still see the distressed look on Yomi's face, she said, "Ok, I lied."

"What?"

"Yeah. When we were with the other girls. I made up that part about having to go meet my dad." She looked up at Yomi's surprised face.

"Why?"

"Well, I just... I just didn't want to leave you on your own then. I... I was just concerned, that's all."

Yomi leaned closer to Kagura, "Was it because of what Osaka said? Because my eyesight isn't -"

"I know."

"Huh?"

"Well, I have seen you at the swimming pool. You don't wear your glasses in there and you still get around just fine. In fact, you are a pretty good swimmer."

"Are you trying to get me to join the swim team?" Yomi joked.

Kagura grinned at her, "No, but I wouldn't mind if you did. It might be fun. Anyhow, all I am saying is that Osaka seems to think that without your glasses, you can't see anything. But I know better. You don't walk off the edge of the pool or bump into people, you do fine. But on a busy street in a crowded city, well, you can't control what some idiot in a car is going to do. And there are some creepy people out there and you are very pretty..." her voice trailed off.

"Kagura, that is sweet. Thanks for thinking about me."

The athlete started to reply but stopped. Then she cleared her throat and started over quietly, "I do, you know. Think about you."

Yomi tilted her head a bit, curious. "I appreciate it."

"It's just," Kagura said slowly, "that if something happened to you, something bad, and I knew I had been standing right there with you and didn't do anything..." She pulled her knees up to her chest.

Yomi rolled over onto her side and pulled herself up to sit beside Kagura. "Hey, it's ok," She grinned and bumped her shoulder against Kagura's. "Frankly it's refreshing to have someone more interested in keeping me _out _of danger than leading me into it."

"Tomo?"

"Well, yeah. She is always playing jokes on me and doesn't seem to see the possible consequences. Like the glasses. But it has been years of other stuff too. Most of it is just harmless goofing off, but sometimes, sometimes it just goes too far."

Kagura reached over and took Yomi's hand, interlocking their fingers and then squeezing it tightly. Yomi was surprised by this, but smiled at her. Then very abruptly she stood up. "I should go."

"Why?" Yomi looked at the clock, "If you stay a while, my parents will be home in about twenty minutes. You could stay for dinner."

"No," she shook her head, "I want to go before I make an ass out of myself."

"What? I thought we have been having fun since you got here."

"Yeah, but," She took a deep breath, visibly nervous, "I suck at hinting, Yomi-chan. It's one thing I'll just never get right. Just like if it were math or language class at school."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"You? No, not at all. It's me. I am about to. So it's been a great day today and I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Kagura!" Yomi grabbed at Kagura's sleeve, "If you have something to say, then say it. You don't have to hint or worry about being polite. Just tell me what's wrong."

Kagura looked at the taller girl. "Sometimes I wish you were my girlfriend."

Yomi let go of the sleeve, "Girlfriend? What do you mean? Like...?"

"Yeah, like girlfriend. I'm sorry if that bothers you Yomi, but I can't help it. Everything I said today is true. I do think about you a lot and I do worry about you. Watching Tomo give you a hard time just sends me over the edge some days. But I know she is your friend and it's none of my business." She paused for a moment and the silence hung in the air, "I have no idea what you think about this kind of thing. The last thing I want is to freak you out or make you uncomfortable around me," another pause, "but I guess that's kind of a foregone conclusion.

"Anyhow, I should go. I'll see you tomorrow at school. Maybe Yukari will let us play video games again, eh? That would be cool." She walked down the hall to the front door and changed into her shoes.

As she opened the front door, she saw Yomi approach her. Kagura gave a polite bow "Thank you for the juice and snacks. You have a lovely home." and she turned toward the street.

"Wait".

Kagura froze on the walkway, a light breeze blowing her short hair and ruffling her skirt.

"I'm sorry that I didn't know what to say. You took me by surprise there." Yomi stood in the doorway, looking at the athletic girl in a completely new light. "I have never really thought about it before. It's kinda sudden, you know?" Kagura nodded in response.

"I can't answer you today. I need to..."

"You need some time," Kagura said seriously, "time to think about it."

"Yeah. Can you wait? Give us both some time to think about it?"

"I've done all the thinking about it I need to," Kagura replied with a smile, "but as long as you didn't say no, then I am happier than I have ever been."

Yomi watched the beautiful young woman walk to the sidewalk and then turn back in the direction they had both come a couple hours earlier. She slid the door shut and leaned against the doorframe.

A slow smile lit her face.

* * *

**a/n**: I considered breaking the chapter at the word "Wait" a few paragraphs up, as a cliffhanger but decided that was just too evil.

Chapter 3 is in progress! More angst and a stunning turn of events planned.


	3. Love Hurts

**Opening A/N:** Ok, I made a few errors in my first two chapters (like the Tomo bed/futon thing). Thanks for pointing those out, I guess that's why beta-readers were invented. Hopefully I will go a bit smoother along the way, we will see.

Again my chapter ran far longer than I planned. This one is bigger than both of the first two combined. Its funny how you get a few ideas, but trying to connect them up takes forever. I probably should have split this into two chapters.

* * *

**Chapter Three - Love Hurts**

Tomo rolled out of bed before the alarm went off. Actually, she had been awake for a couple hours trying to force herself back to sleep. The events of the previous day kept playing through her mind.

She quietly picked up her fresh clothes and a towel before padding down the hall to the washroom and turned on the shower. Discarding her nightclothes in the hamper, she let the hot water run on her while she planned out her new day. _I have to say I am sorry and let Yomi know I mean it.__  
_  
Tomo wanted to get out of the house and on her way before encountering the rest of her family. Soap and the hot water did their magic in waking her up and clearing her head. She toweled off quickly and dressed, wrapping the towel around her head.

In the hall, she collided with her stepbrother Kensuke. He caught her shoulders to give her balance before she fell. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was kind of in a hurry and not watching where I was going."

He smiled, "Not to worry. I just wasn't expecting you this early." Tomo noticed he was wearing a long golden earring dangling from his left ear.

"Ah, so you _did_ have Meiko's earrings…" she grinned.

He gave her a wink, "The bitch doesn't know how to wear good jewelry. She should stick to the plastic kids stuff." He left her in the hall and stepped into the washroom. Tomo returned to her room and quietly packed her books. Glancing at the clock, she realized she had better get out of the house while she still had time for her plan. She checked herself over in the hall mirror to inspect the fit of her uniform, and then discarded the towel after one last scrub on her hair.

She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread without toasting it and smeared some butter on it. Folding in half as a butter sandwich, she chomped it down as she ran out the door into the early morning sunlight.

Tomo sprinted down the sidewalk, her wet hair tips slapping her neck. After a few blocks, she slowed her pace to a quick walk and pulled her brush out of a side pocket of her book bag. She made a few quick strokes on her hair, which was still far from dry.

She wasn't heading toward school; she was aiming directly for Yomi's house.

-

Yomi had gotten ready slowly that morning, lost in the thoughts of the day before as well. The broken glasses bothered her, but it was Kagura's sudden declaration that had thrown her for a loop.

At dinner the night before, she had told her parents about the broken glasses of course. But as always she downplayed Tomo's part in it and just said it was an accident. They were a bit concerned but said they would get them fixed. She certainly didn't say anything about what happened after that, other than briefly mentioning that her friend Kagura had walked her home. Even saying that much, Yomi had begun to fear that some traces might show on her face of… of what? She hadn't done anything wrong. Still, she changed the subject quickly.

Today she enjoyed breakfast very slowly, not talking much. She still didn't know what she planned to say to Kagura, although she did look forward to seeing her again. She had done a bit of thinking about it during her restless night. No, she wasn't angry with Kagura, nor repelled. Mostly it was surprise.

Surprise was the word of the day it seemed, for when she left the house she found Tomo standing at the sidewalk, flipping her damp hair. "Good morning, good morning," Tomo chimed.

"Good morning. What are you doing here?"

"What, can't I walk my bestest friend to school some days? Yeah, I know we normally meet up down by that park, but I thought I would come by and say hi a little early." Tomo began to bounce as she walked, partly from nervous energy, partly from… well, her normal energy.

"The last time you waited at my door for me was the day after you dropped my favorite shoes in the river. I am beginning to see the pattern here."

"Ah ha, you caught me. Yep, I wanted to see if you were ok and to really say I was sorry. I really mean it," Tomo said with a bow. Yomi cocked an uncertain eyebrow at her. "So, did your parents get super-pissed off or anything? Are they going to dock your allowance? Because if they are, I'll split mine with you." She jingled her pocket for emphasis.

"No, it's ok Tomo. My mom is going to drop them off at the optometrist on the way to work this morning. They weren't happy about the money, but at least the lenses were still good. That is the expensive part." She could feel her anger at her hyper friend slowly melting away. For some reason, she just could never stay angry at that damn wildcat.

'Ok then, instead I will treat you to the beverage of your choosing today at school as one of the many forthcoming tokens of my apology. Another one being, let me carry your book bag!" and she made a grab for Yomi's black satchel.

"I can carry it myself, thank you." But by now Tomo had a grip on the handle.

"Oh come on, just let me carry it, all right. After all, it's the least I can do."

"No Tomo, just let go"

The two girls rounded the corner tugging at the book bag when they spotted someone standing beside a tree. It was Kagura, running her fingers through her still damp hair, soaking up some morning sunshine. She looked up to see the two quarrelling girls.

"Oh, good morning you two. Tomo, are you trying to rip her bag in half too?"

Tomo abruptly let go of the handle, which sent Yomi staggering sideways a couple steps. She was more than a little annoyed at having her morning apology interrupted, especially at a moment like that. "What are you doing out here? Isn't this kind of far from your place?"

"Yeah, it is. I was just out for- hey, what's it to you anyhow?' Kagura growled.

"I dunno, it looks kinda suspicious. Are you two planning something?"

Yomi was getting mad, "Like what?"

"I don't know, that is why I am asking."

"Well, if you must be a royal pain in the butt, then the truth is, Kagura…" Yomi paused, "Kagura wanted to borrow my notebook for language class to see my notes." She fished the appropriate book out of the satchel and handed it over.

Kagura took it without any objections and put it in her bag, "Thanks, I am sure it will be a big help."

"Hey, so now you let everyone copy your homework?" Tomo complained as they continued their walk to school.

_Darn it!_ Kagura thought. _I wanted to get here early and get a chance to talk to Yomi. Find out if I upset her last night. Although... although if she was really that upset she wouldn't have covered for me with that notebook story. Unless she was just too embarrassed and didn't want Tomo to find out what happened. Darn it Tomo! Why did you have to be here?__  
_  
Tomo continued to be Tomo all the way to school, although the other two girls seemed much quieter than usual.

-

Kagura walked into the homeroom and sat down at her desk, Yomi walking with her and Tomo trailing behind. A few other kids were already in the classroom but not many and Yukari was no where to be seen. Yomi dropped into an empty chair on Kagura's left so she could sit and talk for a while.

But it wasn't much better than before. There was still this awkwardness to it all, and Tomo was nearby. Plus there were a slowly growing number of other students. Finally Yomi said, "Well, maybe you could stop by my house again after school. You know, maybe we could talk some, or play some video games or something."

Kagura smiled, "Or something."

Yomi smiled back and then started thinking about the possible meanings behind that. She felt herself blushing as she began to consider what the various "or somethings" might mean, so she leaned forward and covered her face with her hands.

As much as she didn't like blushing in front of others, she also wasn't quite ready to let go of this new train of thought either. She turned her head to face the window, away from Kagura and Tomo.

"What're you grinnin about Yomi?"

She glanced up to see a curious Osaka who had somehow walked right up beside her. "Oh, nothing", she replied.

"And why are you sittin in my desk?"

"Because I like it here!" Yomi said in mischievous defiance.

Osaka took a sudden step backwards. "Ah! I see it all! You think I don't know what's goin on here, but I see it plain as day!" she said, leveling an accusing finger at the two girls.

Yomi and Kagura both leaned back in their seats, while Tomo stepped forward to hear what was going on.

"It's you, Yomi! You've finally decided the time has come, and now you are trying to replace me!"

"Huh? What in the heck are you talking about?"

"It's like those aliens, ya know. The pod people. You are trying to assume the identity of me! Look at you! Sitting in my desk, wearing the exact same thing as me..."

"Uh, we are all wearing the same thing, Osaka..."

"I can feel it! Even as we speak, I can feel the very fabric of my existence slip-slip-slipping away." Osaka clutched her bookbag to her chest.

Kagura leaned in to rescue Yomi. "Hey Osaka. Yomi isn't a pod person. She's Yomi." she looked Yomi in the eye. "100 percent Yomi." She faced Osaka, "and trust me, she isn't trying to steal your identity. She just wanted a place to sit while we were talking."

Osaka looked fearfully at the girls, then suddenly relaxed. "Oh ok. As long as I get my desk back before Yukari shows up."

"Wow Osaka, you gave up on that one quick," said Tomo.

The spacey girl shrugged while putting her bag on the side of her desk, "Not at all. I have simply understood The Higher Truth."

"Higher truth?" the three girls asked.

"Yes," she smiled. She stepped toward her friend in glasses. "Yomi is Yomi" and she hugged her. "Kagura is Kagura" and she hugged her too. All three girls smiled at each other. "And if they are indeed pod people, then they would be quite easy to defeat."

'What?" Kagura exclaimed. "I am easy to defeat?"

"Yep," Osaka replied, "you would be the first to go, because you're easiest of all."

"Exactly how do you figure you could possibly defeat me?" demanded Kagura while rising from her chair.

"Relax pod-girl. I'm not gonna reveal my secret Earth defense strategy to some alien spy."

Yomi and Tomo were doubled over laughing as Sakaki and Chiyo-chan entered the room. "What's so funny?" Chiyo asked with a curious smile on her face.

Osaka responded, "Oh, they are just makin' fun of me again. They think they can outsmart me but they're wrong. Like the saying goes: If ya light a match, you're gonna see fire. No wait, that's not quite it. It's kinda close to that though." She seemed to get lost in her own inner world of thoughts, "but you get the general idea."

"Oh, that's it! I challenge you!" Kagura said.

"Um," Chiyo asked, "Challenge her to what?"

"To proving _that I am not_ a pod-alien-space-girl!"

"Ok," replied Osaka, "Prove that you're not. One two three go."

Kagura stood completely still. "Umm, well, uh, you see…. I'm just not. Uhh... Ah ha! I was born in my grandparent's house in Iwata! My birth certificate says so!"

"That proves nothing. I admit that the original Kagura was born there, but what if you are a seed from deep space that has absorbed her memories? You need proof that you are who you say you are." Osaka folded her arms.

"Oh, well, then I… "

"Three two one, bzzzt. I am sorry, but your alien invasion has failed."

"What? No way! That can't be it! I'm not a pod-person! I'm not!" She gave an imploring look to Chiyo and Sakaki. Sakaki just shook her head a bit and took her seat by the window. Chiyo looked back and forth between the faces of her friends.

"It's ok Kagura," Yomi said. "It doesn't work that way. First, Osaka has to prove that we _are_ aliens. Not the other way around."

"Ah ha!" gleamed Osaka, "My worthy nemesis!"

Tomo stepped forward, "So Yomi, are you going to challenge her next?"

"No, this is stupid. Class is already supposed to have started. Where is Yukari anyhow?"

"What about you Osaka? Aren't you going to challenge her?" Tomo goaded.

"Nuh uh. I only do battle in defense of the Motherworld. I am not yet convinced Yomi poses a significant threat to Earth. Yomi, do you plan to overthrow the world?"

Kagura poked Yomi in the ribs. The bespectacled girl looked up to see Kagura's face, still holding the sting of her recent defeat. With a heavy sigh Yomi said, "Overthrow Earth, huh? Sure, why not?"

"Ah ha!" Tomo crowed, "Now Osaka, prove to us all that she is a space-alien-pod-girl!"

"That is no longer necessary. The clash of minds and wills has already begun and Yomi has chosen the battlefield."

"What?"

She leveled her finger at Yomi. "This started when you tried to steal my identity. But I can defeat you. Two can play at that game." She picked up her book bag, "For as of now, I will steal yours. From this moment on, I am Koyomi Mizuhara and thus your alien presence will be negated."

Yomi sputtered, "What in the heck?"

"Those are the rules for the rest of the day, and then we will see who is victorious. And it's winner-take-all, a struggle of survival. Whoever wins keeps their identity."

Osaka walked briskly past the bewildered girls to Yomi's desk. She put down her book bag and in her best, but still awful, fake Tokyo accent, she said "Hiya! My name is Koyomi Mizuhara! Pleased to meet you!" and sat down at her new desk amidst several very confused looking classmates.

-

The door of the classroom slid open and Yukari walked in. She gazed at the class with bright red bloodshot eyes. A nimbus of fire seemed to surround her head. "What's all the noise in here?! This is a classroom, not a playground! If I see anyone roaming around the room, it's a week in detention!" she snarled and marched over to her desk. Yomi sat rooted to the chair, she didn't dare make a dash for her own desk after a threat like that.

Yukari slammed her books down on her desk loud enough to make everyone including herself jump and immediately groaned and grabbed her head, slumping into her chair. "Listen up everybody. We are going to do something a little different today. Instead of language class this morning, we are going to study... uh... math. Yeah, math. And it's _not_ because I forgot and left the lesson plans at home or anything stupid like that. No, its because this is education! Part of education is to prepare you for when you might suddenly need to know math or some other stupid thing you learned in school that could save your life."

She slowly dropped forward until her head hit the desk with a thud. She covered her face with her arms. "Oh god... Open your math books to page... whatever. What chapter are you on?"

Chiyo timidly spoke up, "We are on chapter seventeen."

"Exactly. That is what I was going to say. Open your books to chapter seventeen." Yukari moaned. She suddenly raised her right arm and extended her index finger, pointing randomly around at the class. "You there!" She said without looking up. "Uh, Kagura!"

Kagura froze in terror. Math was her worst subject. Even Mr. Nagasawa the math teacher knew better than to call on her. "Stand up," ordered Yukari, "Here is what we are going to do. You go up and write the first math-equation-problem-thingy from that chapter up on the board and sit down. Then, uhhh, you!" she pointed again, still not looking, "Ohyama, you go up and write the answer. And you better get it right because I might be watching," she growled, covering her head again for the rest of the class period, speaking up only with a muffled voice.

"Why is it so bright in here?" the teacher moaned as Kagura stood up, frantically turning pages in her math textbook. _All I have to do is write the problem, right? Not come up with the answer. So I just have to copy it properly._ Kagura was starting to shake and sweat from the panic that always gripped her whenever the subject of math came up. She knocked her bookbag onto the floor as she stepped away from her desk, but nobody laughed. They were all digging for their own math books. As she turned to pick it up, Yomi bent down and retrieved it for her, placing on her desk. Kagura gave a nervous nod and headed for the blackboard.

_Math really bothers her. I mean, I knew she didn't like it or something, but I didn't know it scared her. Or is it just Yukari?_ Yomi wondered.

As the girl who was once Queen of the Knuckleheads stood at the blackboard, the teacher spoke up again. "Sakaki, can you turn the blinds down or something? Hey, just so you all know, direct sunlight is bad for growing children. It can cause skin problems and can even do permanent rectal damage to your eyes."

The students all shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

Kagura almost dropped her book, holding it in her left hand while writing with the chalk in her right when Yukari said, "Jeez, do you have to hammer at the board like that?" She tried pressing the chalk lighter against the blackboard but that just made it more squeaky and Yukari's fingernails dug into the top of her wooden desk. The athlete made very certain to copy the first question as accurately as possible, as quietly as possible, then escaped back to the safety of her desk.

"Ok, Ohyama, get up here." The young man scrambled out of his chair and nervously looked at the board.

For Yomi, this class was boring. She had already done the assignments for chapter seventeen and so it was about as interesting as listening to a dull lecture twice. She turned her gaze to Kagura who was staring intently at her work book. She seemed frustrated and nervous, spinning her pen in her hand or scratching her head with the blunt end of it. As the next couple questions rolled by, Kagura seemed to shake her head and bite her fingernails.

"For the next one, Mizuhara."

But while Yomi was glancing up at the board to see what question they were now on, Osaka had already gotten to her feet and walked toward the front of the class. As she passed Yomi, she whispered, "Too slow, imposter," and proceeded to the blackboard. She copied down the question and headed back to Yomi's desk with a goofy grin.

"Ok, now what's-her-name, that girl with the braids," the teacher groaned.

Yomi didn't know if she should be angry with Osaka or laugh, so she just shook her head and chuckled. She watched Kagura again and saw her struggle with the classwork. She wanted to help but she knew simply handing her a list of answers wasn't the solution she needed, and there was no way to coach her in the classroom. Boredom quickly overtook her again and she began doodling on a piece of paper, drawing triangles with her name under it. She was jolted out her trance when Kagura poked her and pointed at the teacher. She realized Yukari was repeating herself.

"Osaka! I said it's your turn! Are you asleep again?" Yomi turned to see what Osaka was doing. She was sitting comfortably in Yomi's chair with her arms folded. She did look a bit spaced out, but it was also clear she had no intention of being anyone but Yomi.

"How did I get stuck being Osaka?" Yomi muttered to herself as she stood up. A few chuckles came from around the room as she walked to the blackboard and answered the problem she saw. It was actually pretty easy, she thought. She looked over at Yuraki who still had her head buried under her arms on the desk, so she returned to the seat next to Kagura.

"OK, Mihama, come show us why Osaka's answer is wrong," Yukari mumbled.

Chiyo stood up and said, "Actually Miss Yukari, the answer on the blackboard is correct."

"Really? Well, will wonders never end. I guess that's the third sign of the apocalypse." The bell rang for the end of class and Yukari yelled "Thank god" and was out the door before anyone could blink.

Yomi spoke to Kagura after class, as the other students were packing up their books and getting ready for PE. "Hey, if you would like a little help with your math, I wouldn't mind coaching you sometime."

Kagura looked up with a start, her forehead still beaded with sweat and the lines of frustration yet visible. "I don't want to be a bother," she said, finally beginning to relax.

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it" she said as she put her books in her bag. Kagura looked over to see the slip of paper on her desk, triangles with "Koyomi Mizuhara" written vertically below it. The swimmer smiled and clicked her pen. Yomi looked down to see Kagura working on that page of doodles. With a clean stroke she drew a line descending from the triangle, making an umbrella, and wrote her own name on the other side of the line. She then picked it up and handed it to Yomi.

"Scratch it out if you want. It's not like I haven't written it before."

Yomi looked in surprise at the paper in her hand. "_**That**_ is your first name?"

-

As the students filed out of class, Osaka stopped Yomi and Kagura briefly in the hall to say, "Earth defense: four points; Alien invasion: zero. Things are off to a shaky start for the visitin team."

"I am so gonna smack that girl!" Kagura fumed.

"Don't let it get to you. That's just Osaka being Osaka." Yomi replied, grabbing Kagura's wrist and heading for the locker room.

Tomo said, "Actually, I think today its Osaka being Yomi."

Osaka gave a big smile to her three friends as Yomi and Kagura headed down the hall. Then she turned serious. "Ok, I need your help."

Chiyo looked uncertain, "You mean, defending the Earth?"

"No, no. I mean Yomi." Osaka declared. "Honestly Chiyo-chan, pay attention to what's goin on around you. She is always so smart and stuff, I'm actually surprised I have been able to stay awake and on top of this for one whole class. I'm afraid she's gonna beat me at this and then I'll never hear the end of it."

"You mean, you don't really think Yomi and Kagura are aliens?"

"Chiyo-chan, if they was really aliens, don't ya think they woulda sucked out my brains by now?"

The child prodigy was stumped on how to answer that question, but Sakaki said, "What did you want us to do?"

"Oh, good. Listen. Just call me Yomi in front of her sometime. Like say 'Hey Yomi, when did you change your hairstyle?' or something like that."

Even though Chiyo wasn't so sure if she should take sides in this, Tomo gave a big thumbs up and said "Oh yeah, this sounds like fun!"

Sakaki gave a small smile and a brief nod. She winked at Chiyo, "It's ok, it's only a game." That seemed to be the relief Chiyo needed to regain her usual bright smile. The four girls headed toward the locker rooms, but then Tomo stopped them again.

"Wait a sec guys," she said, looking around. "Don't you think Yomi has been acting kinda weird today?"

"Not especially. Like how?" Sakaki asked.

"Maybe it's because she is pretending to be Osaka," Chiyo offered, then suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"No, that's ok," Osaka replied. "But I didn't notice either. If so, maybe Yomi should get a point for being spacey. Is that what you mean?"

"No, and it started before class or the contest. It's like she and Kagura have a secret. Something they don't want to talk about in front of me. I thought maybe it was something to get back at me for the glasses, but I don't think so. Hey, do you think they are planning a surprise birthday party for me?"

Chiyo responded, "Since your birthday is six months away, it does seem unlikely. But really, we should get to class or we are going to be late!"

And they were indeed the last ones dressed. Today the pool was closed for cleaning and the PE class would be out in the school yard.

Ms Kurosawa looked at the new arrivals. "You four! You're late. I want each of you to give me ten laps." The girls groaned. "And this is a running track, I don't want to see anyone walking." She turned back to the rest of the class as the girls looked despairingly at the track.

"Whoa, I wonder what's got her panties in a bunch today?" groused Tomo.

The PE teacher's ear perked up, "What did you say Takino?" as she spun on them.

Tomo stepped back, "Uhh, I said I wonder if I should eat some candy after lunch today?"

"Hmm, a most difficult question. I'll tell you what. To give you some time to think about it, when you are done with your ten laps, go ahead and take five more by yourself to ponder that tough decision of yours." She glared at the other three girls. "Anyone else have questions?"

"No ma'am" and they all quickly headed toward the track. Tomo sped on ahead of the others, determined to finish her laps before the end of class, while Sakaki slowed down to a leisurely jog to keep pace with Chiyo and Osaka.

As Tomo sprinted out front, she thought about this day. She had planned to make up with Yomi and despite the interruption that morning, it seemed that things had smoothed over. Things were back to normal. Yomi was back to being a stick in the mud and Tomo was having fun with this whole crazy Osaka thing. But back to normal wasn't what Tomo truly wanted.

She had thought all night about what she wanted to tell her, although the things one thinks about at night don't sound so easy to talk about in the light of day. Plus today there was Kagura. _Because of her, I haven't had a moment alone with Yomi!_ Why was she hanging around so much more than normal? Or was she?

Tomo panted as she rounded the track again. She looked at the class setting up for volleyball practice. Yomi talking to Kagura. Kagura pairing up with Yomi for the teams. Kagura and Yomi trying to get Nyamo to laugh or at least crack a smile, and eventually succeeding.

_Darn it Kagura! Why do you have to be in the way all day?_

It wasn't until the third lap that the other girls passed her.

-

By lunch time, Yomi was getting quite tired of Osaka keeping score. Finally as the group of friends began to gather on the roof to eat, she decided it was time to end this contest. "Osaka, come over here for a second." When Osaka failed to respond at all, Yomi realized her mistake and tried again. "Mizuhara, may I speak with you a moment?" Osaka immediately looked over and came to see what Yomi wanted.

"Look Osaka, you win, I lose. Simple as that. I can't do this anymore and it's really starting to bug me. Can we please just quit now?"

"Hmmm, I dunno. Maybe it's a trick. Do you give up all designs on the overthrow of the Earth?"

Yomi sighed and looked at Kagura who nodded. Yomi cleared her throat and lowered her voice to its deepest spookiest sound she could manage.

"Oh, Earthling, you have defeated us. There is no way we can take over the Earth with such a powerful guardian such as you to defend it. We flee in shame to our homeworld and return these host bodies to their rightful owners." She then proceeded to make jerking motions with her head and arms to simulate being released of possession. Kagura started to laugh but then quickly imitated Yomi.

Yomi shook her head, "Wow, what was that all about? Where am I?"

Kagura too looked bewildered, "What day is it?"

The space cadet looked at them skeptically. "Ok, ok, ya didn't have to go that far, fer crying out loud," and walked back to Chiyo.

Tomo stood watching the antics of her friends from the top of the stairwell. Then she headed back into the empty classroom.

-

After eating their lunches, the girls headed back to the classroom. Yomi was the first one back in the room and was surprised to find Tomo waiting there for her with a piece of paper in her hand.

"Is this true?" Tomo demanded of Yomi, showing her the doodle page.

Yomi snatched it back, "What are you doing digging in my book bag?"

Kagura and the other girls had come down from the roof as well. They entered the empty classroom to see the two girls quarrelling.

"I didn't, it was on the chair. Well is it true, are you dating Kagura?"

"I don't see how it could be any of your business. So what if it is?"

A few other students were drifting into the classroom and Kagura stepped up to the wildcat, "If you really want to talk about it, fine, but some other time, ok?"

"Why don't you want to talk about it now?" Tomo insisted.

Sakaki spoke up, "Tomo, show some respect. People deserve their privacy. I am sure you can talk about this later."

Tomo scoffed at the others. "You guys have no idea at all. Is that how you want to go through life, hiding everything? You need some backbone! If you love someone, you have to show it openly!" She glanced around the room until her eyes lighted on Osaka standing by her desk. _Ah ha!_ "Like this!"

She stepped up to Osaka and in one swift motion grabbed her by the shoulders with her left arm and pulled her backwards. Osaka's eyes went wide and her arms flailed at her sides as she fell back. Tomo dipped her deeply back and said, "Just like a Hollywood movie" and planted a firm kiss on the space cadet's lips.

However, the wildcat failed to take a few things into account. With her right arm stretched up for dramatic effect and Osaka unable to give any support at all, Tomo couldn't hold her up for even an instant. Osaka continued to fall backwards grabbing at Tomo's shirt and they both went down together.

The moment before they landed on the floor, the back of Osaka's head made sudden and hard contact with the edge of Ohyama's desk. There was a loud Thwack and the desk flipped on its side as the two girls crashed down, Tomo landing on Osaka's body.

All four girls spoke at once, "Oh my God!" "Are you all right?" "Tomo, you moron." "Miss Osaka, can you hear me?"

The girls rushed to their fallen friends and Tomo managed to back off a bit, getting a look at Osaka, who had her eyes closed, unmoving.

"Is she breathing?" Chiyo asked, deeply worried.

"Yeah, I think so," Sakaki said. "Yes, she is coming around now."

Osaka twitched on the floor and moved her limbs a bit and moaned. "Kagura," Sakaki said in a commanding voice, "help me out. We need to keep her still for a moment to see how she is. Move that desk back. And somebody go get the school nurse". Chihiro had been standing nearby and bolted out the door toward the school infirmary, pulling her braid-tressed friend with her. Kagura obeyed instinctively and moved the fallen desk away to give them more room.

Sakaki looked closely at the semi-conscious girl and said, "I think I should check the back of her head to see how badly she is hurt." With slow care, she slid her hand across the top of Osaka's head, moving back looking for injury.

Tomo wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Not again! Her stupid antics had caused harm to yet another one of her friends. _First Yomi hates me and Kagura too probably, now look what I have done to Osaka! How will she ever forgive me?_ Her eyes began to water as she looked at Sakaki and Chiyo. _How will I destroy my friendships with you next?_

Osaka sat up quite abruptly despite the girls' admonitions to stay still. She was beginning to open her eyes and drool a bit as well. She sputtered, "Cnnnduff Lllsss".

"What did she say?" asked Yomi.

Chiyo leaned in. "It sounded almost like she said Candy…"

"Floss?" Kagura finished, scratching her head. "That doesn't make any sense at all. What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"Blood", Sakaki said, holding her hand up for just a moment. The girls could see crimson on her fingertips. Chiyo gave a small cry of dismay.

Osaka's right arm began moving as her consciousness and her memories began seeping back to her. Her hand touched her face as she opened her eyes just a little more to try to see the circle of friends around her, but they were partly obscured by the blinding sparkle of the lights shimmering and exploding in her head.

"Fireworks, just like in the movies", she said, her fingertips gliding over her lips.

Sakaki was gingerly parting the hair on the back of Osaka's head looking for the injury. She quickly pulled out her handkerchief and pressed it against the small cut she found.

"Ow. OW!" Osaka moaned. "I guess it's true what they say after all. Love Hurts."

* * *

**Ending A/N**

_Yomi and the triangles_: Japanese school children often draw a triangular umbrella with two people's names under it, "the umbrella of love". It means the same thing as two peoples' names enclosed in a heart-shape. Tim + Suzy. It's odd that Yomi is doing this in class, because this kind of thing would seem very grade school to her. And she doesn't complete the drawing either, but just flirts with the idea. It's Kagura who recognizes the symbol and finishes it.

_First name/last name:_ Yes, I know Japanese custom puts the family name first but since this is a fanfic, a lot of us turn them around, so it reads like "Tomo Takino". So when Yomi refers to Kagura's "first name", she of course means her personal name, not the family name. That was never revealed in the anime or manga; I may have a bit of fun with that fact here.

_Candyfloss_: That's a tip of the hat to our prolific fellow author Silver Sailor Ganymede. Yes, I probably should have asked first. No, I don't plan on making a habit of putting in references to other fanfics. (although I did have one amusing idea...)

_**Next chapter:**_ Love is in the air! Osaka has fallen hard for Tomo, figuratively as well as literally! How will Tomo react to this turn of events? How far will Kagura go to prove her love to Yomi? Does Sakaki secretly yearn for more than a kitty to pet? What's up with Yukari and Nyamo's seemingly tandem mood swings? Does Chiyo have a sparkle in her eye for someone special? Will Yomi accept Kagura's feelings? Whose leg will Mr. Tadakichi try to mount? (You better run Chiyochichi!) Can I possibly answer even _a fraction_ of these questions in a single chapter? Not likely folks, but hopefully we'll have some fun anyway.


	4. Rumors

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing worthwhile. Really. Its kinda sad.

_**Opening A/N**_ - Hey gang, I opened a topic on one of the forums. I am curious about your opinions on how hot you like Shoujo-ai romance. Pop over there and put in your two cents worth. (It's on the Azumanga Daioh forum, topic is called Heat. Scale of 1-10.)

* * *

**_Chapter Four - Rumors_**

Miss Yukari Tanizaki was half asleep at her desk in the empty teacher's office when Minamo Kurosawa walked in. Minamo said "I hear you had some trouble in your classroom today. I saw some paramedics take one of your students out in an ambulance."

The language teacher waved a lazy hand above her head, "Oh, it was nothing. Osaka got a bump on her head and someone called the school nurse. Once the principal heard about it, they were all worried about getting sued and stuff, so they went a little overboard. You know, err on the side of caution and all that crap.

"Besides," she continued, "it's just Osaka. I doubt a bump on that thick skull would do anything to her anyway. I mean, brain damage would go completely unnoticed on that kid."

Minamo frowned, "That's pretty cold. Don't you have any interest in your students at all?"

"Yes!" Yukari sat up, "actually this story is much more interesting than it appears. You see, rumor has it that the reason Osaka got injured is that she and Tomo were making out on one of the tables right there in the classroom when they fell off! Can you believe it?!"

"Yukari..."

"But you know honestly, I never pictured those two together. I would have guessed that if Tomo swung in that direction, she would probably go for someone like Kagura."

"Kagura?" Minamo replied, "Pffft. I don't think so. They are too much alike."

"Alike? They're not at all similar! Look at what a star athlete Kagura is. She and Sakaki together are the two best female athletes in the whole school. That is nothing like Tomo, who can't even have sex on a table without falling off," she scoffed.

"If you must discuss possible girl-girl combinations in that circle of friends, I have to say Tomo seems an obvious match for Yomi."

Yukari snickered, "Yomi, huh? You have got to be kidding me, right? First off, she is as straight as they come. No seriously, I have this uncanny ability to sense this stuff, I can tell these things."

"We both know how accurate _that_ turned out," Nyamo grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not 100 percent. Anyhow, Yomi and Tomo just wouldn't work out."

"I'm not so sure about that," the PE teacher replied, "Yomi is a kind and patient young woman, just the kind of stabilizing influence Tomo needs in her life."

"No way! I don't care how patient and caring Yomi is, I bet Tomo would drive her insane eventually."

"Tell me about it," the PE teacher muttered.

"Besides, Tomo is full of life and energy and Yomi is such a boring and dull girl that she'll be lucky to ever catch a man."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Minamo demanded, slamming her hands down on Yukari's desk, "Thanks a lot!"

Yukari looked up at her in surprise, "Huh? What's your deal?"

That was when a pair of puppets popped up from the desk across from them. Little red riding hood and a wolf. "I think Chiyo-chan and Sakaki would make a cute couple," came Mr. Kimura's voice from under his desk. The wolf gave Little Red a big hug.

"Holy crap, I didn't know you were still here! Dammit, I thought this place was empty!" Yukari snarled.

"Oh god..." Minamo put her hand on her forehead.

Kimura peered over the edge of his desk, gazing at them with fogged up glasses. "Wouldn't they be perfect together? Look, I can show you a love-story puppet show!"

"Don't you think Chiyo-chan is a little young for romantic ideas?" Minamo asked.

"Go away!" Yukari yelled. Then she snickered, "Besides, I think Sakaki already has an admirer. A certain girl that transferred over to your class this year."

Mr. Kimura jumped to his feet defensively. "That's not true! That's just another vicious rumor started by jealous girls," he insisted.

"Oh, I don't know," Yukari continued. "Of course, Kaorin is such a shy timid little thing compared to Sakaki. I think it's clear to see who would be the dominant one in that relationship."

Kimura ran to the door, covering his ears with his puppet-covered hands. "Not true! Not true!"

Yukari pushed on, "I can just picture Sakaki wearing some kind of black leather dominatrix outfit, keeping Kaorin on a leash." This seemed to stop Kimura in his tracks for about five seconds while his whole body shook from head to toe. Then he plunged out the door into the hall yelling, "Nooooooooooooooo!"

"Ka-whack goes the whip!" the language teacher yelled to the empty doorway. Then she turned to Minamo. "Isn't that how you have always pictured the eventual hookup between Sakaki and Kaorin?"

"You don't know your students at all, do you?" Minamo asked in despair.

"Oh, come off it Nyamo. You know if Sakaki told Kaorin to lick her feet, she would drop right there and do it in a second."

"Maybe so but you also know, or at least you should, that Sakaki would never be that way. She doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body."

"Ha! She came to school with bandages all over her hands again last week and I heard a rumor that..."

Minamo groaned, "Not more rumors. Yukari, don't believe all these stupid high school drama rumors. I swear you haven't matured a bit since our high school days."

"But some of them are so much fun! Oh! I heard a good one last week. You know that Ohyama kid? Well it turns out he is a closet pervert."

The PE teacher frowned at her friend, "Is that your oh-so-delicate way of saying that he is gay?"

"Gay? Nah, just the opposite I think. He's a closet pervert. Literally. He is a pervert who likes closets."

"I don't even know what you are talking about anymore."

"Aren't you listening Nyamo? I swear. I heard from a kid whose friend told his brother that he had spotted Ohyama and Chihiro doing the nasty in the janitor's closet. Well, it turns out he just likes the idea of being in a tight enclosed space like that with a girl. Ohyama gets all hot and bothered by closets."

"Ohyama... and Chihiro?"

Yukari nodded, "Oh yeah baby! That boy is one kinky guy. So I decided to put this rumor to the test."

"No! What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing too spectacular. I just wanted to see if the rumor was true or not. So I had the students translating some English on the board and I wandered around the classroom. After I passed his desk, I went to the storage closet in the back of the room and opened it up, just acting like I was looking for something on the bottom shelf, like this, see?" and Yukari slowly bent over very provocatively and wiggled her butt while pretending to look in the bottom drawer.

"You should have seen his head spin! It was like the friggin exorcist or something."

"Yukari! You are going to get fired one of these days!"

"What? I get fired for looking for supplies while Kimura is climbing the fence to get into the girls pool? Oh, that reminds me of another good one I heard."

Nyamo held up both hands, "Stop! No more rumors! I don't want to hear any more of this. Ignorance is bliss!"

"Ignorance is bliss? Now that's a fine attitude for an educator to take. Oh well, whatever. So, do you want to go out drinking tonight?"

* * *

Yomi had promised to help Kagura with her math homework and to Yomi a promise was sacred. So when they got to the Mizuhara house after school, the first things out were the math books. Kagura looked a bit disappointed, but she knew this was a genuine offer of help, one she couldn't afford to turn down. Even if her mind was elsewhere. 

Once Yomi brought in the tea, the two girls got right to work on the upcoming assignment, with the athlete getting plenty of help from her friend. After a couple hours of hard work, the assignment was done and it was also clear to Yomi that Kagura was in way over her head on the current classwork. She had avoided giving out answers directly, but walked her through each problem that she had trouble with, which turned out to be all of them.

The Mizuhara's had come home from work and prepared the evening meal, so when girls were called for dinner, Kagura was quite relieved. It had been an embarrassing ordeal for her. She felt as if she had been exposed as the total dimwit she truly was in front of the only person on Earth whose opinion she actually cared about. _Then again,_ she sighed_, it wasn't like it had ever been a big secret. You didn't get elected leader of the Bonkura's for nothing_.

Dinner was wonderful. The Mizuhara's had been very happy to meet another of their daughter's friends and Kagura had almost blushed a couple times as Yomi boasted of all of Kagura's athletic accomplishments. When the subject turned to today's homework, Yomi simply said they were working on math together. "It's nice to have someone who is interested in doing the work, rather than bouncing on my bed throwing paper balls at me while I study." Everyone laughed, since they all knew she meant Tomo.

It made Kagura feel oddly proud of the way Yomi was talking about her. If she had any doubts or fears left, Yomi was quickly erasing them. She volunteered to help clean up with Yomi, but Mrs Mizuhara shooed the two girls out of the kitchen.

Kagura dropped onto Yomi's bed and relaxed. "Wow, your parents are really nice."

"That's what everyone thinks the first time you meet them. Wait till they warm up to you a bit, then watch out!" She mimicked a fake pouncing move with a grin.

Kagura smiled at the ceiling. "Thanks for having me over today. And for dinner, and for the help with the homework."

Yomi sat down beside her. "Thanks for coming over two days in a row. I..." she hesitated, but then spoke quickly, "I don't want you to think I stuck to the homework because I was avoiding you or something. You know, avoiding what we talked about yesterday."

Kagura sat up, "I know you're not avoiding anything. If you were, you wouldn't have sat with me half the day at school or invited me over to your home. I know you haven't given me an answer in words yet, but your answer in actions has been as much as I could have hoped for." She saw Yomi blush and look away, so she quickly added, "Not that I mean to presume anything. I guess what I mean is that if you wanted to avoid me, you could have. Hell, you could have completely shunned me and I might have deserved it. But you didn't.

"So," Kagura continued, "did you want to talk about it now?"

"Mmm," Yomi started with a nod, "I want to let you know that what I said yesterday wasn't completely true."

"Huh? What part?"

Yomi turned a little redder and said, "When I said it was sudden, that was true. But when I said I had never thought about it before... well... I have _thought_ about it a few times. You know, having a girlfriend."

Kagura nodded. "Sure, that makes sense. Let me guess. Tomo?" She saw the startled look on Yomi's face and the slight nod. "Do you mind if I ask a question about her?"

"Like what? Nothing too serious ever happened you know."

"Yeah, ok, but I guess if I have competition then I would rather know up front," Kagura stated. "I really need to know, Yomi. What are your feelings for Tomo?"

* * *

The air was getting cold as Tomo left the park. After school she had wandered off by herself to be alone for a while. The park had seemed a nice place to get away from everyone, but the memories of the day had followed her there as well. After distracting herself by watching children play on swings and climb on the play structures, she finally headed for home. 

Today had been just as bad as yesterday, maybe worse. Could Yomi really be falling in love with Kagura? Why else would she have drawn their names together like that? Clearly Kagura was being protective of Yomi, so it must be mutual feelings, not just a one-sided crush. So what did that mean, were they lovers? How far had this gone, and how long had it been kept secret? Was it too late?

Tomo stopped in her tracks. Too late for what?

She stretched her arms and back as she looked upwards, seeing the blue sky turning purple and the clouds shimmering with the last of the fading daylight. How long had she been at that park anyhow?

Too many questions pounced around in the wildcat's head. She wasn't used to this kind of confusion. Just as messed up, there was the deal with Osaka.

She felt horrible about letting Osaka get hurt like that, but even stranger was Osaka's reaction when she woke up. The school nurse had come in and taken over and the principal had fretted over the scene, calling for transport to the local hospital to get an x-ray and most likely some stitches. Tomo had tried to stay back, watch from a distance. But she was getting cold glares from Yomi and Kagura. Even Sakaki had seemed somehow disapproving.

Tomo had felt tears welling up in her eyes and she fought them back. That was one thing Tomo would never allow. She would never again feel so sorry for herself that she would cry in public. Not guilt, not shame, not embarrassments, she wouldn't let herself cry.

But while all this went on, Osaka had dreamily lay on the floor and called Tomo to her. She came to her side and Osaka grabbed Tomo's hand and quietly whispered "Don't go nowheres", then covered her own eyes with her other hand. It was clear Osaka was in a lot of pain, and if Tomo could make her feel a little better by being beside her, then that was the least she could do.

She had stayed with her until the ambulance had taken her. They had been quite reassuring to Osaka, nothing too serious, just a precaution, et cetera. As they took her out, Osaka suddenly said "It was nice of you to kiss me like that, but next time be a little more careful, 'kay?"

* * *

"That's a hard question to answer. I mean, we have been friends forever." Yomi stated slowly. 

Kagura swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Yeah, I understand that. But I mean if you have thought about it, then-"

Yomi stopped her there. "It's not like that. I don't sit around thinking about it, nor have I ever said anything to her. I wouldn't. She would either laugh at me or create a big scene like she did this afternoon. No, I would never say anything like that to her. And honestly I was kinda hoping not to mention this... us... to her for a while at least. At least until you and I had a chance to talk a little.

Yomi put her head in her hands for a moment before she continued, "Like I said, this is all so sudden and I'm not totally sure how I feel about it. Then to have Tomo try to make it the spotlight of the whole class... Dammit, that just makes it so much harder."

The athlete nodded in understanding. "I was trying my best to keep it low pressure on you." Then she laughed a bit, "Well, really there is no way to drop _that_ on someone without some surprise. But I agree, I certainly wasn't planning on hanging a big banner off the school rooftop tomorrow or anything."

Yomi leaned back and thought about the question before her. "Tomo as a girlfriend. Well, it has never been like that with us. We have always been close, but not that kind of close. Tomo likes to play pranks on me, I'm sure you know. Well, when we were in middle school, some of them started to turn a bit more sexual in nature. We were at that age, thirteen, fourteen years old and jokes about that kind of thing were becoming more common."

She stood up for a moment to stretch her legs as she continued. "Tomo started doing silly stuff to piss me off. Like walking up behind me in the hall and yanking the back of my skirt up and yelling out the color of my underwear, or asking loudly how many days I had been wearing them. And when I tried to get back at her by doing the same thing to her, she would jump away and say 'If you wanted to see my panties so badly, you should have just asked', then she would grab fistfulls of the front of her own skirt. Facing me, she would lean back against the wall and start pulling her hem up, but super-super slow. She would bite her lip and make little noises and if anyone was around she would announce that I had been begging her to see her panties."

Kagura had to laugh at this, as Yomi drew a very vivid mental picture with her words. It was easy to see Tomo doing something like that, and in fact she had seen a number of Tomo's locker room antics herself.

Yomi grinned both at the memories and at Kagura's reaction to it and said, "She also likes to sneak up behind me and say 'guess who' but its never my eyes she reaches for." She made a clutching gesture with both her hands.

"What?!" Kagura laughed with Yomi.

"Yeah, the first time she did it... well, the first time she did it in public, it was third year of Jr High. You have to understand, by that time I was, uh, developing boobs more than the other girls in our class. We were walking in through the front door of the classroom and she slipped up behind me. Right there in front of everyone, she gave them a grab. I was so shocked I jerked my arm back to knock her off and I hit her right in the face with my elbow."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, next time you talk to her, notice this," and Yomi smiled to show her front teeth, tapping at the second tooth on the right. "I hit her so hard, I split her lip and broke her tooth. That one is capped. The entire class was screaming with laughter over what Tomo did and my reaction as well. Tomo hit the floor in the doorway and sat there spitting out blood and bits of her busted tooth. I asked if she was ok and she just gave me a blood-spattered grin and said 'I guess I had that one coming, didn't I? Score one for Koyomi.'"

"So did that make her stop?"

Yomi arched an eyebrow, "What do you think? Of course not. She just learned to stay out of elbow range. And she doesn't play that trick in public anymore."

"But she still does it, just not in public?"

The brunette averted her gaze for a moment and thought about how to answer that one. "Sometimes." She pointed at the desk. "Sometimes she comes over when I am studying. She will lean over me to see what I am doing, or just to mess with whatever I am working on, like dropping a million tiny bits of torn up paper over my head and desk like snow. She mashes up against me from behind and yeah, sometimes she'll still play that trick. As long as she is that close, she knows I can't get an elbow at her.

"Oh god, I could tell you a bunch of these kind of things, but I bet you have seen half of them yourself. I know you have been there for a few of them. But it's always the same really, Tomo trying to embarrass me or make me look stupid."

Kagura slowly said, "Uh, Yomi. Perhaps some of that is just Tomo being her crazy self, but I think at least part of it has to be a come-on of some kind. That's pretty extreme."

Yomi shook her head, "I thought so too, at times. But she always jumps out of reach and makes a big joke out of it, usually with me being on the losing end of the joke. If I even seem to take it a little serious, then she _really_ makes fun of me."

Yomi's expression turned more serious as she struggled for the words, "The harder I try to explain what Tomo means to me, the harder it is to explain. We have been together since the very beginning of elementary school. We have played together, fought, and made up. We have gone to each other's birthday parties every year." Her voice grew quieter as she continued, "I stayed with her after her father died. It was just awful. It was the hardest time for Tomo. I'm not sure I could even describe it. And then only two years later when her mom got remarried, Tomo totally freaked out. She basically lived here with us off and on for a couple months."

Yomi blinked back a couple of tears that wetted her eyelashes. "Tomo and I have been through a lot of shit together. If I look back at the important times in my life, she was always there." Yomi tried to laugh, "True, sometimes she was there causing trouble, but she was there." She pulled off her glasses and wiped her eyes with a tissue. "Sorry, sorry."

"Don't be. I understand, that is some serious shit. I am kinda jealous in a way. Not just because of competition for my girlfriend, but mostly because I think it's cool that you have a friend like that. Through thick and thin, as they say. I've never had a friend like that."

Yomi put her glasses back on, "That can't be true. You have lots of friends."

"Not like that. Did you know that this is the first time in my life I have gone to school in the same place for three years in a row? My dad's job keeps him moving around the country a lot. I did elementarty school in Nagasaki, Tokyo and Kobe; middle school in Kobe and Yokohama; now back to Tokyo for high school. So it's all been on Honshu, but all over the place. My point is, I think it's great that you can have a friend like Tomo who has been with you for all that stuff, good and bad. The best and the worst. So if I say I am jealous, that doesn't mean I want to jeopardize your friendship with her. I don't," she gave a small sly smile, "but I do want to steal a little of your time away from her."

"I don't get you Kagura. I really don't. I'm not complaining! I just don't understand how you picked me to be interested in. I... I am flattered by it and I..." she sighed, "I mean if you are going to fall for another girl, why not Sakaki?"

Kagura sat up with a laugh, "Sakaki?!"

"Yeah. She is beautiful. Way prettier than me. And she is tall and has that long flowing hair. She is super-athletic like you, so you would probably be able to go do stuff together. You know, like rock climbing, that is what I meant. No way am I going to be swinging on a rope-"

"What makes you think I want to go rock climbing?"

Yomi waved her hands, "That's just an example. You are very healthy, strong and athletic. You probably like doing various outdoors stuff sometimes. Sakaki would be good at that. Me, not so much. Plus, she's super smart too."

"If you're trying to talk me out of being interested in you, it isn't working," Kagura smirked.

"No!" Yomi laughed, "I just don't understand why you would pick me with someone like Sakaki around."

"Hmm, to some extent we can all say that. Why would anyone be interested in _me_ with Sakaki around? But you are missing one important point. Sakaki may be smart, pretty and athletic, but so are you. Most importantly, there is one thing she just isn't and will never be."

After a moment of silence, Kagura leaned toward her friend and said, "She will never be Yomi," and kissed her gently on the lips.

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

The girls were wondering if Osaka would be in school today, considering her injury the day before. Much to their surprise, she was already sitting at her desk. However, she was wearing a black stocking cap on top of her head. It was pulled down in front to the tops of her eyebrows, on the sides to completely cover her ears and in the back it stretched down to cover her neck.

"Good morning Miss Osaka!" Chiyo piped up at once. "I am so glad to see you in school today!" Osaka returned Chiyo's greeting with a big smile. Tomo breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Kagura stepped up to Osaka and asked, "Are you feeling better today? Last time I saw you, they were pulling your scrawny butt outta here on a stretcher."

"Oh yeah, I seem to be ok now," Osaka yawned.

Yomi looked her over, "So what's with the hat?"

"Well, I kinda had to wear it because of my hair."

"What do you mean?" Kagura asked.

"Ya see, I had to cut all my hair off. It gets a little chilly in the morning without no hair on my head."

"What?" the girls cried out. Chiyo spoke for them all as she asked, "Whatever for?"

Osaka looked a little perplexed. "When I was in the hospital, they had to put some stitches in my head. In order to do that, they had to snip just a little bit of my hair off, so as not to get it stuck in the stitches. And that was no problem. But when I got home, I was in my room lookin at it in the mirror and it just looked uneven. So I got out my scissors and tried to even it out." She looked down at her feet, "I never have been too good with scissors, so I just started snippin away. Next thing ya know, I was done."

Tomo's eyes were huge, "You mean, you cut it down to... what, a crew cut?"

"It woulda been that, but I didn't like the way it felt, so I shaved it off."

"You shaved your head? Bald? As in completely bald?" Kagura stammered.

"Well yeah. It woulda looked funny if I left it in bits and pieces, dontcha think?"

Tomo sat down hard. "I can't believe you did that!"

Osaka grinned at her friends, "Ok I lied."

"What?" Yomi yelled, "You didn't cut your hair off?"

"Yes, actually I did, but not because of that. It was because Tomo dumped me." Osaka explained.

Tomo looked in shock, "Dumped you? I never dumped you! I accidentally dropped you, but-"

Osaka grinned, "Oh, good. I'm glad were still together then," and with one swift move she pulled off her black cap and her long black hair spilled down like normal. "Ha, I was just kidding. I wouldn't shave my head. I got you good with that one."

All five girls reeled backwards in stunned relief to see her hair looking pretty much normal, if perhaps a bit messy from the hat. Kagura was laughing hard at the space cadet's prank.

Yomi shook her head and said, "So if you didn't wear the stocking cap because you cut your hair, why did you wear it? Just to play a trick on us?"

Osaka carefully put the cap back on her head, this time allowing her hair to flow out behind her to her shoulders. "No, actually it does still hurt and I decided I should use it as padding on my head. Now that Tomo and I are together, I figure since I have such a clumsy lover it's probably better to be safe than sorry." And with that she stood up and walked directly to Tomo, kissing her right on the lips, much to her surprise.

Osaka smiled at her friends. "See? Good padding makes sense. I always hear my daddy say to my older brother: 'Love is a wonderful thing, but make sure to wear protection.' So I figure a good layer of padding on my head is the best way to start."

Her bespectacled friend tried to help, "You know, that probably isn't the kind of protection your dad was talking about..."

"Yeah, and that's got me thinkin. As clumsy as Tomo is, she might just drop me down the stairs next time she tries to kiss me, or flip me right off the bed the first time she tries to-"

"Hey! I'm standing right here! Don't talk about me like I'm invisible!" Tomo shouted.

Osaka smiled apologetically, "Sorry, sorry. But I think maybe I should get myself something more sturdy. Like a suit of samurai armor. Maybe the kind Lady Tomoe used to wear. I think I'd wanna add lots of silk and ribbons too."

"Tomoe Gozen, the legendary female samurai of the Heian era?" asked Chiyo.

"Yeah, that's her. That reminds me, Chiyo-chan, I was thinking about something. In my last year of middle school, we took a class trip to a museum in Osaka. There was lots of interesting stuff there, and there was a full suit of samurai armor standing in a glass case."

"Oh yes, those are very fascinating," Chiyo nodded.

Osaka continued, "So what I was wondering is this. How did they get that armor to stand up like that? But then I figured it out. They found a dead samurai and stuffed and mounted him, still in his armor. Then they put him on display, forever wearing his finest."

Sakaki stepped back from Osaka pulling Chiyo with her. Kagura and Tomo looked at each other, "Is that how they do it?"

"No you idiots," Yomi interjected, "That is NOT how they do it." She looked at Osaka, "Haven't you ever been to a department store in your life? You know how they have clothes up on mannequins? Well, that was what they had inside the armor."

"I didn't know they had department stores hundreds of years ago," Osaka mused. "Maybe that is where Lady Tomoe would go shoppin after a hard day of choppin off heads."

* * *

_**A/N**_

_Tomoe Gozen._ A famous samurai woman well known to any Japanese school children. She holds a position in history somewhere similar to the west's fascination with Joan of Arc or Robin Hood. She is real (like Joan) but is surrounded by myth and fiction (like Robin). A few movies and a couple TV series have been based on her, and she has appeared in a couple anime too. Go check Wikipedia, very cool.

_**Next chapter coming soon!**_

What will happen in chapter five? Will a handsome and mysterious transfer student named... uh... Jack suddenly appear in the story for no reason? Will all six girls fall madly in love with him like a really bad harem anime? Will there be a huge catfight as the girls try to prove who loves him more, involving hair pulling and tearing off clothes?!

Oops, Jack is dead. He perished in a tragic blender accident. I guess there won't be any OC romance in this story after all, so perhaps we will go for some more shoujo-ai and maybe even pump up the heat?

* * *

- 

-

Come on Osaka, he's dead. You can quit pushing buttons on the blender now.

* * *

- 

-

And quit giggling. _**I **_am the one who gets stuck cleaning up this mess.


	5. Love and Puppets

Wow, thanks for all the reviews! I am just having fun with this silly story, I hope you are too. I tried to respond to a lot of reviews, although I am still having some issues with some messages not transmitting properly.

Also, I wanted to address a couple things here, so if you want, you can skip down to the Chapter Five beginning.

_How much sense does it really make to have all the girls and both female teachers turn out to be lesbians?_ Well, although I am not actually saying yet if they _all_ are or not, please remember this is just a fanfic. Anime isn't exactly the place we go to find "reality" anyhow, and fan fiction even less so. This is just a silly romance story and I definitely didn't want to add in Original Characters to create guys for all the girls. Oh, plus I really like girlXgirl stories, ha ha ha.

_What about Nyamo and Yukari?_ Well, with the cast of six girls, plus Chihiro, her friend with braids (both of whom I adore) and Ohyama, it's a lot to cover in one story. I originally planned to add in NxY, but I think now that if I do, it should probably be as a separate story. I admire what LtStorm has done with Cold Nights & Warm Days. That is a brilliant way to focus on just one set of romantic entanglements at a time, yet still keep them tied together. I feel I can't do justice to any particular pairing if I try to jam _too_ much in. So I may hint NxY, but I doubt I'll get much chance to explore it here, even though I had worked up some of their story.

_I want to see Kimura's puppet show!_ Heh heh, ok, you asked for it. Don't blame me if you have nightmares.

* * *

_**Chapter Five - Love and puppets.**_

* * *

"I never knew what true love was until Tomo bashed my skull in the classroom," Osaka said while munching on her asparagus. 

The six girls had gathered once more on the roof of the school to enjoy their lunches in the warm sunshine. Fleecy white clouds skittered across the sky casting momentary shade over the girls before moving onward.

Yomi leaned over to Kagura and whispered, "I'm glad you decided on a less direct approach." Both girls quietly laughed together. As discretely as possible, Kagura slid her right hand under Yomi's left, feeling the soft tenderness of her skin as their fingers intertwined. Yomi smiled and gave her hand a slight squeeze, shifting the position of her leg just enough to keep their joined hands hidden from view.

There was already a growing rumor around school about the "hot couple" of Tomo and Osaka based on exaggerated retellings of yesterdays events, and seemingly confirmed by Osaka kissing Tomo in the classroom this morning. Neither Yomi nor Kagura wanted that kind of attention right now.

Chiyo looked curiously at her spacey friend. "I'm not sure I understand though. How did you know it was love?" Tomo sat on the other side of Osaka eating her own lunch, though she seemed equally curious about this line of questioning.

"Well," Osaka slowly pondered, "it wasn't just one thing. It's like a whole world of things. It was like all of Tomo's love and feelings came to me all in a flash." She was making big gestures with both of her hands as she spoke, waving around her chopsticks in her right hand which still held the last of her asparagus. "It was her love, and her energy, and-" and the asparagus slipped from the sticks and hit the ground. "Oh crud."

"Five second rule!" Tomo exclaimed and picked it up with her fingers. She hesitated for a moment, and then she offered it to Osaka. "Still want it?"

"Nuh uh. Well yes I do, but not anymore," she sighed in defeat.

Tomo shrugged and popped it into her own mouth. Her eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh my god!" she managed to say.

Yomi looked over, "Did you pick up something nasty off the ground with that? You know, there is no such thing as a five second rule."

"No, it's not that," Tomo explained as she continued to chew. "This is the best freakin stuff ever! Osaka, did you make this yourself?"

Osaka shook her head slowly while tugging her black stocking cap on tighter. "My mom did. She has a special recipe that she cooks them up that way. You like it?"

"It's heaven. You can tell your mom that this stuff gets the Tomo Takino seal of approval," she exclaimed while jumping up and punching at the sky.

"She can cook pretty good, as long as you don't expect spicy foods. Hey, you should come over for dinner! I'd want you to meet my family anyhow."

Tomo nodded as she sat down again. She had gone to dinner at the Mizuhara's so many times, she wouldn't even try to guess how many. A bazillion times. Why should it be any different going to Osaka's? Although, listening to Osaka explain the deeper meaning of true love to Chiyo told Tomo that this _is already _different.

She glanced over at Yomi and Kagura, seeing the short-haired girl whispering something to the other and the two smiling at each other. Did Kagura just sniff Yomi's hair?

She turned to check on the sixth and often silent member of the circle, Sakaki. She was eating her bento box lunch and was clearly riveted to the conversation of Chiyo and Osaka. A stray lock of jet black hair blew across her face and she absently swept it back with a fluid motion. It seemed that Osaka's speech had Sakaki's full attention.

Osaka was speaking to her pig-tailed friend, "Chiyo-chan, I know you don't understand all this yet, because you're so much younger than us. There's nothin wrong with that.

"You are my best friend in the whole world, Chiyo-chan, so I want you to benefit from the wisdom and experience of my greater years. Just like the important lessons we learned from Ms. Kurosawa on our second trip to your summer home, I will share with you this knowledge, so that you may benefit in your impending blue spring of awakening to the adult world."

Chiyo responded in an uncertain tone, "Thank you very much." She ventured a question, "May I ask, if you don't mind, why Tomo? I mean, you're a girl and... well, she's a girl too. Aren't girls supposed to fall in love with boys?" Tomo tilted her head to hear the answer to this question too.

Osaka raised a finger pointing toward the sky, "Love is the most important thing in the world. Love is where you find it. Sometimes you have to look for it and sometimes it looks for you." She folded her hands in her lap, "Love isn't about boys or girls or men or women or Japanese people or foreigners. It's about how you feel."

The child prodigy seemed rather unsure of that answer, so she turned to Sakaki. To her surprise, Sakaki nodded in agreement with Osaka. "What?" Chiyo asked Sakaki, "Is that true?"

Sakaki paused for a moment to consider her words on this delicate subject. "Love is... love is for each person to decide. No one can tell you who you can or can't love." She halted again at that point and then added, "At least, that is what I believe."

Osaka asked Chiyo, "Do you ever think about this kinda thing? Romance and sex and stuff?"

Chiyo began turning a bright red color as she stammered for an answer. "Well, I don't... I mean, sometimes I think, not about sex, but, or rather I wonder..." she poked at the ground with the toe of her shoe, "about... Uhhh."

Kagura interrupted to rescue her young friend, "Chiyo-chan, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Osaka agreed immediately, "Yeah, I wasn't tryin to put you on the spot. Sorry." Chiyo let out a gasp of air. Osaka said, "I guess since the rest of us are all so much older than you, it seems more normal to talk about it. We're all third year students now, so most of us are seventeen and eighteen years old. Except for you of course."

Kagura said, "But you do know the basics, right? You attended Ms Kurosawa's class."

Osaka smiled, "Yeah, that beach trip was somethin else!"

The athlete retorted, "No, I mean actual girl's health class. Sex Education. Didn't you take that class, Chiyo-chan?"

This was discussing school work, so Chiyo responded with more confidence now that her feet were on firmer ground. "Oh yes I did. Actually, there was something of a stir about that when the class was being scheduled. Some of the school staff, including the principal, thought I should be excused from taking it because of my age."

"Really? I didn't know that," Sakaki said.

"Yes. Miss Kurosawa was called in to talk to the principal. Afterwards, she made a home visit to talk to my parents and discuss my feelings about taking the class. I wanted to take it and my father agreed. After all, they don't excuse me from any other classes because of my age. My mother thought it would be unwise to be the only girl in the school who _didn't_ know all these things.

"Then Miss Kurosawa took the case to the principal and he gave his consent," Chiyo said. "So in that class I learned all the basics. Human reproduction, cycles, the risks of pregnancy and disease. Then I had to pass the written test with the other students. I got a couple questions wrong but I still got a good grade."

"What?" Tomo exclaimed, "Chiyo-chan took a test and didn't get a 100?" She jumped up and put her hands on her head while spinning around, "Impossible! Call the newspapers! Call the Prime Minister!"

Chiyo made a face, "I don't always get 100 on everything Tomo. I miss questions sometimes just like anyone else. On last week's math quiz, I got a 94."

"Yeah, so what did you get on _this_ week's math quiz?"

Chiyo looked at her feet. "A hundred. But why do you have to make it sound like a bad thing?" She was starting to get annoyed with Tomo and decided the earlier discussion was less upsetting. "So Osaka, what were you saying before?"

Osaka seemed to have lost track of where they had been in the conversation, so Kagura asked her, "Speaking of liking boys or girls, Osaka, have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Not really. But I think about boys a lot. In fact, if you told me a week ago that my one true love was a girl, I wouldn't have never believed it. I used to imagine that one day I would fall in love with a handsome guy. I even made up stories and daydreams in my head about him. Gave him a name and everything," Osaka said.

Tomo sensed some juicy story here, so she prodded, "Ooo, like what? Tell us about him."

"I would imagine that one day a handsome student would join our school and fall madly in love with me. I thought, what if he was one of those foreign exchange students with some sexy name like Jack? But now I know that is never going to happen," she said, taking a big drink of what looked like a red milkshake.

"What is that you're drinking?" Kagura interrupted.

Osaka looked at her glass, "Oh, this? Just somethin I shoved in the blender last night. You know when you're sick or injured, you should have lots of proteins and stuff."

Kagura looked interested, "So is that some kind of nutritional energy drink?"

"Something like that."

"What are all those red chunks?" the girls took a look at her drink. "Oh, strawberries."

"Well sure, what did ya think it was?" Osaka held it up for their inspection. "Anyhow, since this is my last year of high school, it's pretty obvious to me there won't be no mystery guy showing up for me. But it has been even better to discover that my true love was right here all along."

Tomo didn't say anything, but focused on the last bites of her lunch. However, she was deep in thought about what the girls had been talking about. The only person she had ever really cared about in her life before was Yomi. Somehow, deep down, she had always assumed Yomi would be there for her, just like she always had been. Now Tomo was beginning to feel very stupid for believing in that.

* * *

On the far side of the roof, another conversation was taking place. Kaorin was talking to her two best friends, Chihiro and… and… well, that girl with the braids. 

Kaorin was sobbing, "It was like the puppet show from hell."

"I don't understand," said Chihiro, "What exactly did he do? Just calm down and tell us from the beginning."

After pulling out her handkerchief and drying her eyes, Kaorin began, "I was at home, in my room when I first noticed it. It was outside my window. Something was moving and of course I looked. It was these two puppets dancing at the windowsill. One was this big wolf and the other was a little girl with red hair and a red coat. It was very strange obviously, but I thought maybe it was one of you two doing it. But then… but then… I saw Mr. Kimura peeking up in the window, with the lights glinting off his glasses and his mouth open wide. He had sticks and leaves in his hair too. I don't know if he put them there on purpose, or if he just got them from crawling around in my bushes," she shivered.

"What really freaks me out is I had just been changing my clothes. I think maybe he saw me in my un… un… underwear!" She choked out. "Then I screamed," she said. "And my parents came in. I pointed and said there was someone outside, so they ran out into the yard."

"All right!" Chihiro exclaimed while making a fist. "Your dad is HUGE and I have seen all the trophies at your house. He went as far as the semi-finals in martial arts in college, right? Did he kick his ass?!"

"I was watching them through the window, so I couldn't hear what they were talking about. All I could see was Mr. Kimura waving his arms around with the puppets still on his hands. Then… then…." Kaorin started to break down again.

"What? What happened?"

"They invited him in."

"What in the hell for?" the other girl demanded.

"My mom thought the puppets were adorable and they both thought Mr. Kimura was very… charming," she managed to say.

"Charming? No way!"

"They were talking to him and it turns out that Mr. Kimura graduated with honors from the Classical Literature department of Tokyo University. They were both very impressed that we had such an educated teacher working at our school," she sniffed. "They said it was a high honor for a teacher like this to pay a home visit to a student these days."

Chihiro looked alarmed. "So he was actually in your house?"

Kaorin nodded, "It gets worse. They made such a fuss over him. My mother was running back and forth to the kitchen, bringing him tea and then cookies and other treats."

"Oh no!"

"They even made me serve him tea, right there in my own living room. I had to sit next to him on the couch while they talked to him for about an hour about his experiences in Tokyo University. When they asked him about why he picked this school to work at, he yelled 'HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS need a guiding hand, don't you agree?' And my parents nodded."

"That's bad," Chihiro said.

"So what ever happened about the puppets?" asked the Braid Maiden.

"My mom said they were so cute. She asked Mr. Kimura about them and he told us they were sent to him from a friend in America. It has to do with some European legend. So my dad asked him to show them to us and… and... he did. It was the scariest thing I have ever seen."

"What did he do?" the two friends breathlessly asked.

"He put them back on his hands and started waving them around. Then he stood up on the couch and started howling. He ran around the room a few times barking and yowling while my parents clapped. Oh, but he stopped for a moment and fixed something on the little girl puppet. He put her red hair into two pigtails and said that looked more realistic, whatever that meant. Then he proceeded to tell a story about this lone wolf that was in love with the red-haired girl. He called the girl puppet 'Little Red'. It went on for a long time."

"How weird is that?" braid girl wondered.

"It just kept getting weirder. Something about how the wolf was in love with Little Red and would protect her from all the dangers of the world and could save her from any tragedy and stuff. Then all of a sudden he stuck the wolf's head up the girl's skirt and started howling and barking again. My dad thought that was the funniest part. He was rolling on the floor laughing."

"Man, your parents are clueless! How come they didn't see how creepy this all was?"

Kaorin sighed, "They love performance art. They're all into this modernistic art shows and crap. They took me with them last month to see an art performance and it was some guy dressed in a kimono ringing a bell against his head for twenty minutes. They thought it was 'a brilliant essay of the socio-sexual role reversals in modern Japanese society'."

"So what happened then?" Chihiro asked.

"Then came the worst part. My parents were so enthralled with his puppet show that they asked him to stay for dinner," Kaorin moaned.

The two girls were in shock. The one with braids finally said, "You had to eat dinner with him? Oh, no, did your parents make you serve him?"

She shook her head, "No, fortunately when they asked him to stay, he said that his wife was cooking him a special dinner tonight. Then he suddenly looked at his watch and yelled 'Ding Dong! Look at the time, I'm late for dinner!' So he jumped up and headed for the door."

Kaorin winced at the memory. "My parents made me bow to him politely and thank him for his kind visit. They also insisted I ask if he would come back for dinner soon. They practically kept him at the door until he promised to come over to dinner sometime in the next week."

"Ick. Screw that. Consider the problem solved right here," Chihiro volunteered, "Kaorin, you are officially invited to have dinner at my house for all of the next week. If he comes over again, you won't be there!"

Kaorin hung her head, "I wish it were that easy. But when he left, he gave me the two puppets as a present. He said 'These two belong together forever, don't you see that? It would be very very wrong to get in between them.' And then he left."

"So?"

"After he was gone I yelled at my parents for letting him in and I threw the puppets in the trash. My mother was furious at me for talking to them like that and for disrespecting the honorable teacher. I got grounded to my room for the rest of the month. The only time I can go out is to school and back, or shopping with my mom.

"My dad," she continued, "made little wooden peg stands for the puppets and put them on the bookshelf in my room. They said they were a special gift, imported from America. I tried to point out that both puppets had little tags on them that said in English 'Made in China' but they didn't listen anymore. I went to bed last night with no dinner."

"So how was Kimura in class today? Did he still act the same?" Chihiro ventured.

"Worse than ever," Kaorin replied. "While he was standing at his desk, he thanked me for a wonderful time last night. Just like that, in front of the whole class! I'm horrified to think what the other students thought he meant by that."

The other girl put a caring hand on Kaorin's shoulder. "What did your friends in class say about it?"

"Friends?" Kaorin snarled suddenly. "I have no friends in that class. Not one." Her anger quickly melted back into despair as tears began running down her cheeks. "Everyone in that class either hates me or is afraid to be around me. It's all because of Kimura. They don't want his attention. And the guys… Do you know Sumitani?"

"The vice-captain of the baseball team? Oh, yes," the braid girl replied, "he is one of the most popular guys in school and he is _so_ handsome!"

This earned her a cold look from Kaorin but it faded fast. "One day he said something rude to me. I don't even remember what it was now, some little thing that I didn't even care about. It might have just been a joke. But Kimura heard it and called us both to stand at the front of the classroom. He then gave the students a long lecture about the importance of showing respect to the Class Representative. He made Sumitani bow to me in the front of the whole class. Not just once, but three times until he 'got it right'. And he had to apologize before he could sit down.

"After that, Sumitani and his friends have had it in for me. Never when Kimura is around, but any other time they are constantly doing stuff to me. Tricks and pranks. Everything from dumping all my books and papers into the garbage to dropping a bug on my lunch if I am stupid enough to eat in the cafeteria. The girls too. Some of them have boyfriends in that group, the others just don't want Kimura's attention and so they do stuff to put the spotlight on me."

Kaorin was now beginning to cry uncontrollably with the desperate circumstances of her situation finally revealed to her closest friends. "The… the only friends I still have in this whole school… are you few girls from class three... class three!" she managed to choke out between the torrent of tears. "I miss it! I miss it so much!"

Her two friends looked at each other in alarm and concern. As one, they each embraced her from opposite sides holding her tight between them. The didn't know what they could say to ease her pain, but simply held on to her with their arms wrapped around her while she cried more tears than they had ever seen.

As bad luck would have it, the simple melody of the school bells floated across the campus, signaling the end of lunch break and time to rush to the next class. Kaorin looked up in time to see a group of six girls on the other end of the rooftop heading for the stairwell. She could see her old friends from the past two years, including Miss Sakaki bringing up the rear of the group. A sudden gust of wind raced over the roof, swishing Sakaki's hair forward like a velvet flag and making the fabric of her skirt dance like waves on the sea. With a gesture of casual grace, Sakaki flipped her long gorgeous hair back over her shoulder as she passed through the doors and out of sight.

"Miss Sakaki," Kaorin whispered in awe.

* * *

When they got back to their classroom Tomo decided it was time to talk to the space case about this sudden relationship. 

"Hey, Osaka, can I chat with you for a moment?"

"Sure. Oh, in fact that is good because I wanted to talk to you too, Tomo. But should I be calling you Tomo anymore?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" the wildcat wondered.

"Well, sometimes when people are in love, they come up with cute nicknames for their sweethearts. I was thinking about this when I was layin in the hospital. That was when I put it all together. On my very first day at this school, _you_ were the one who gave me the nickname Osaka. It all makes sense now! That was when I understood that it had been love at first sight for you, my poor darlin, and you have been holding all this burning passion for me deep inside all this time!"

"What?!"

"You have been sufferin in silence, putting on a brave face so as not to let your true feelings show, until finally you could contain it no longer!" Osaka cried out with glee, throwing her arms around her stupefied beloved.

The room filled with hoots and hollers from some of the students that had already arrived in class. Tomo glanced up to see Yomi and Kagura looking over at them. Kagura seemed a bit bemused by it, but Yomi had a different look on face entirely. Was she annoyed, upset, or what_? Is this bothering her? Why should it?_

Tomo looked Osaka in the eye and took her face in her hands. Then she landed a firm kiss on Osaka's lips; long, slow and deep. The shouting, laughing and cheering in the room rose in volume to reverberate against the walls, and students passing by in the halls rushed to the doors for a look. Tomo held the kiss a moment longer, then pulled away and looked at Yomi. The brunette's face was a fierce red and she was staring intently at the floor at her feet. Standing beside her, Kagura had a wry smile and was shaking her head, amused by the happy dance Osaka was apparently doing.

The wildcat allowed her gaze to travel around the room to the other students, who seemed to think this was the funniest thing they had ever seen. She grinned at the commotion and made a V with two fingers of her right hand. "We will be performing the matinee every day this week!" she joked and sat down at her desk.

* * *

Toward the end of class, Yomi passed Kagura a note. "_Are you coming over today_?" Kagura looked at it and scribbled her brief answer before passing it back. _Swim team practice today_. _Sorry!_

Yomi slumped down in her chair, more than a little disappointed after reading it. Of course she had realized this was bound to happen. Getting Kagura two days in a row during the school week had been the exception, now they would have to juggle their schedules more often to get to see each other. This was a new experience for her, making plans and finding time to be with a specific someone. If she tried hard enough, it could almost seem romantic in its own way. Well, at least she could _try_ to see it that way.

A few minutes later, another note was passed to Yomi. She unfolded it while looking up to see Kagura smiling at her. The note read _How about tomorrow? No school, I can get out of swim practice by two. _Yomi smiled and nodded.

She looked around to see if any of her friends were noticing the note-passing. Sakaki was gazing out the window at something unseen far below. Chiyo was working in her notebook. Osaka had her head resting on the desktop, her sleeping face hidden from view by the open book she somehow managed to continue to hold upright on the desk. Yomi shifted in her seat from curiosity now. What _was_ the deal with Osaka and Tomo? The space cadet had been playing more pranks than usual lately. Was this just another bizarre stunt, hatched from the brain of the village idiot? _Of course, that title could go to either one of that pair_, she snickered to herself.

Tomo was folding paper footballs and flicking them at a couple other students. Yomi happened to look up in time to see one skip off of Chihiro's head. When Chihiro looked over, Tomo pointed an accusing finger at Ohyama. Rather than look angry however, Chihiro smiled and waved slightly at the young man, who looked up with a confused expression after Tomo discretely kicked him. Mission completed, Tomo was on the lookout for her next prey.

Yomi considered this. Tomo wasn't acting any differently than normal. She was hard at work annoying those around her. Yep, that was pretty much standard behavior for Tomo Takino. So what did that... that kiss mean? It almost seemed like more of the wildcat's clowning around, but was it? She couldn't believe those two would team up for such a ridiculous and pointless prank.

Yomi folded her arms in frustration. It was all so infuriating.

* * *

After the last class, Osaka came up to Tomo's desk, "So, ya commin to dinner today? I called my mom and she said the more the merrier!" 

Tomo stretched her arms above her head and nodded. "Sure. Is she gonna have any of that killer asparagus tonight?"

"No, she needs a little forewarning to cook up some of that. But I'll ask her to make it for you next time. Is that ok?"

"You bet," Tomo replied, stuffing her books into her satchel. Whatever they were having at Osaka's house had to be better than the burnt up crap that was bound to appear at her own house tonight. She was anxious for any excuse not to go to her own home anyway.

They left the class together and changed their shoes at the lockers on the first floor. She was aware of Yomi's curious gaze directed at them, although any time she looked up, Yomi would glance away. Osaka seemed eager to be on their way, so the girls hurried and left the school. Chiyo, Sakaki, Yomi and Tomo all followed after Osaka who led the way out of the school grounds on their normal route.

For the first block, Osaka was quite animated and wanted to talk, so she tried a trick she had seen Tomo do many times: walking backwards while talking. However, it seemed mastery of that skill was a long way off for the Osakan. On her first attempt, she backed into a light post. On the second try, she fell into a bush. Not deterred, she tried it again, only this time turning her head to the left or right after every step to see where she was going. Not only was that too slow for the group, but she quickly got dizzy and had to sit down on the curb for a minute.

Yomi tried to be helpful to the dizzy and slightly nauseous girl, "Just take a couple deep breaths."

"Maybe you should lean forward, put your head between your knees," encouraged Chiyo.

Tomo spoke up, "I thought that is what you were supposed to do in an air raid."

Chiyo looked up, confused. "Air raid?"

"Sure," Tomo explained, "Air raid procedures. Lean forward, put your head between your legs, and then kiss your ass goodbye."

"Double chop!" Yomi yelled, smacking Tomo on the head and sending her sprawling next to Osaka. "I thought we agreed not to talk like that in front of Chiyo-chan!"

"Ow," Tomo grinned up from the pavement. "But Chiyo thought it was funny. I saw her smile. You did, didn't you?" she goaded the youngest girl.

"Uh," Chiyo started, as Tomo tried to get her to admit she thought it was funny.

While the group was stopped at the corner, Sakaki had wandered away to a nearby wall, where an orange cat sat perched. Not far away was the cat she recognized as Kamineko, the one cat that seemed to dislike her for some reason. Taking her chances, she approached the orange cat and slowly held out her hand. "Hello. Are you his girlfriend?" _Hmm, maybe if I make friends with this one, Kamineko won't be so hostile_.

She took another step closer and the cat slowly rolled onto its back, playfully exposing its tummy to be scratched. It was so cute that the tall girl's face glowed pink from delight. Sakaki's eyes lit up with excitement and a tingle ran through her body as she reached out to pet the darling kitty.

Suddenly it clamped onto her thumb with it's teeth and front claws and made a fast rake with it's hind claws across the edge of her hand. She jerked her hand back with a crimson arc of blood in the air as the orange cat somersaulted to the ground. It bounded over to rub up against the dark cat who purred loud and proud at her.

Yomi and Tomo were helping Osaka to her feet as Sakaki returned, slowly wrapping a bandage around her wounded hand.

"I'm ok now, really I am," Osaka insisted. However, she was now content to walk beside the other girls and not try to lead they way.

* * *

After Sakaki and Chiyo had separated off on their own path, and Yomi on hers, Tomo and Osaka continued on together. Osaka said, "Oh, earlier today we was talking about nicknames. I think maybe I should come up with a nickname for you." 

"Really? Like what?"

"I could shorten Tomo to just... uh... To-chan," Osaka suggested.

Tomo swung her arms at her sides as she walked, "Hmmm, any other choices?"

"Oh! How about chi? You know, Tochi! Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Ugh," Tomo wrinkled her nose. "How about Tomo the Great? Or just call me the Takinator?!"

Osaka waved her hand, "No no, those are no good. Well, I mean, I can see how _you_ might think they were, but not for a sweetheart name. It has to be more personal," she sighed. "Oh well, I'll just stick to Tomo until I come up with something better. But I'll be thinkin' about it.

"In the meanwhile, I do have something to ask you." Osaka continued. "I know you came up with my nickname, but now everybody uses it. So it's not as personal anymore. So...", she hesitated. "Um, do you think you could call me by my regular name sometimes?" Osaka blushed a faint red color, much to Tomo's surprise. She couldn't recall ever seeing Osaka blush before.

"Sure. Sure, that would be ok," Tomo murmured as they walked along. Then she was gripped by a sudden silent panic. She had never called her by any other name, she was having a brain freeze as to what Osaka's real name was. _Kasuga! Yeah, that was it. No wait, that was just her family name..._

"It will be funny hearing my name at school again. Everyone calls me Osaka all the time. Even Miss Yukari calls me that. I think only Miss Kurosawa calls me anything else. Well, and the math teacher who yells _Kasuga_ when he throws chalk or erasers at me if I fall asleep. Only my family calls me Ayumu anymore."

Tomo breathed a sigh of relief. _Of course, Ayumu!_

Osaka led Tomo to a house not too far from her own neighborhood. The house seemed normal enough, Tomo thought. But then again, what exactly had she been expecting? A big space ship?

Ayumu and Tomo kicked off their shoes in the entryway of the Kasuga house. "I'm home!" Osaka yelled at the top of her voice, making Tomo jump. They both stepped into waiting slippers and Osaka grabbed Tomo's hand and ran into the house, pulling her guest behind her.

In the same loud voice she shouted, "Hey, I've brought my lesbian lover home to meet you! Everyone say Hi to Tomo Takino!" Tomo looked up with a start, seeing the main room of the house was filled with perhaps twenty people, turning their heads at the sudden announcement. All eyes turned to Takino.

Tomo looked frantically around the room, praying to find a rock she could crawl under.

* * *

Next chapter: Tomo faces a Samurai warrior! 

What, you don't believe me? Just because I have been jerking your chain the last couple times doesn't mean I _always_ lie about it. You never know. Maybe she does. Muah ha ha ha.


	6. Tomo and the Samurai

**Disclaimer:** I hold no ownership rights to Azumanga Daioh.

**A/N -** This chapter is focused on Kagura/Yomi/Tomo/Osaka only and I didn't have room to pull in any of the other characters. I haven't forgotten them and you'll be seeing more of them soon, I hope. I really like reading the Ohyama/Chihiro stories that have been written lately. I'd like to expand on some of the bits I have written about them from earlier chapters, as well as the others of course. But I realized either I post this now or I'll never be done with chapter six, endlessly altering small details.

I plan to do one thing in this chapter I haven't done before and that is to use a whole sentence of Japanese words. However, I have a reason to do this, it's the title of an actual movie released in Japan but not elsewhere. When I get to that point it will be mentioned like this "Hai"(Yes) as I put the Japanese name in, followed by the (English translation) of the title.

* * *

_**Chapter Six - Tomo and the Samurai**_

* * *

Tomo had never actually seen a samurai before. Well, of course she had seen them on TV and in movies. Even so, she had never thought she would eventually die by the katana blade of a samurai this way. It was all... so unexpected. 

Towering over her, he appeared to be damn close to two meters tall from her perspective. His long black ponytail tied at the top of his head wrapped around behind him, draping over his shoulder and reaching halfway between hip and knee. It was thicker and darker than even Sakaki's hair. He wore ceremonial armor, black and ochre in color. The sword he carried on his belt was still in its sheath for the moment (thank god), the handle of which was black trimmed with silver, tied at the hilt with a silk ribbon that was a bright red, the color of freshly spilt blood.

The thought flashed through Tomo's mind of what it was about to be like to have her head sliced off. When her head bounced to the floor, would she still be able to see her decapitated body fall? Of course, she would probably have the answer to that question in less than a second from now. She felt a single ice-cold drop of sweat running down the back of her neck and her knees threatened to give way.

Behind the samurai stood a pair of foot soldiers, one holding an small oval shield with a serpentine dragon design, and another with a helmet under his arm. Further back stood someone who appeared to be a ferret.

The samurai spoke with a deep and powerful voice, thickened with a strong Kansai accent, "So, you're dating my daughter? Darned pleased to meet ya. Want some cheese?" he held out a plate of crackers and assorted snacks.

Osaka smiled at her daddy and said, "I told you that you would like her. Hey Tomo, can I get you some juice or tea?"

Tomo's legs finally were starting to give out and she shakily sat down on the floor with a thud. She waved a hand over her shoulder to Osaka, "Oh, sure... yeah. Tea... sounds nice."

When his guest sat on the floor, Mr Kasuga did likewise. Folding his legs under him, he dropped to the floor to sit facing Tomo. "Akane! Come meet Ayumu's friend!" he called loudly. Tomo's head was still buzzing from the rush of adrenaline and her ears ringing a little, but she noticed the crowd of strangely dressed people parted for a beautiful and petite geisha dressed in a stunning blue kimono which had delicate white feather patterns on it, tied with an ornate white and gold obi.

She too sat down beside Tomo and held out a plate of small cocktail sausages, "Wiener? Of course, if you're not interested in those, I completely understand."

Tomo blinked a few times still trying to take in the surroundings. She saw a badger and a weasel walk by, talking to each other about the stock market. A much younger geisha was chatting with an old man carrying a large axe strapped to his back, while an old woman grumbled for him to be still as she stitched a shiny buckle onto his sleeve. "Where the hell am I?" Tomo mumbled.

Osaka came back, followed by the ferret. She was swinging a teapot by a handle on it's top, and the ferret trailed behind her with a set of cups on a tray. Osaka sat the teapot down on the floor as she looked at the three sitting together. With a shrug she sat down as well, completing the circle. She pointed at the ferret and said, "This is my little brother." The ferret turned a quick cartwheel, amazingly not dropping the tray of cups, then placed the tray beside Osaka and sat down also.

As Osaka poured the tea, Tomo looked at this brother. It was clearly a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old wearing some kind of elaborate ferret costume. Astonishing face paint and detail on his outfit, she noticed. "Did I... did I interrupt a costume party or something?"

"If it was," Osaka said, "we could come as lesbian high school girls. We have matching outfits!"

The geisha said, "Ayumu dear, I imagine lesbian high school girls would dress the same as any other girls from the same school."

"Oh yeah, I guess you're right, mom."

The samurai spoke up, "Actually Tomo, you just caught us having a short dinner before we head out for work. I understand you'll be joining us for today's meal. Ayumu, didn't you tell her it might be a little crowded today?"

"I'm not sure, dad. Sorry for the surprise Tomo. Really though, it's ok," Osaka assured her.

"Work?" Tomo asked, eyeing their unusual attire. "What kind of work?"

Mrs Kasuga let out a small laugh and her husband gave Tomo a warm smile as he replied, "Yes, that might seem somewhat odd. We are actors. We work at a theater, performing plays on stage. Tonight is our first public dress rehearsal and we thought some of us would get together at my house before heading over there."

"I didn't know your family were actors," Tomo said.

"I told you about that before," said Osaka.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did", Osaka insisted.

"No, you didn't," Tomo retorted, "The last time I asked you what your parents do for a living, you told me your father was crown prince of the undersea kingdom."

Mr Kasuga softly laughed, "Ah, my wife and I worked together in a play last year. Aquarian Dreams. It was very well received. You might have heard about it."

"He was the crown prince," Osaka said simply.

Her mother said, "It was a thrilling success. It enabled us to finally pay off this house and get some remodeling done at the theater. I can only hope this year's production will be half as successful, and I would be delighted."

A number of other people in earshot of this comment spoke up in agreement. Tomo recognized the name Aquarian Dreams from something she had heard on TV. There had been several items on the news about it last autumn. Long lines of people waiting for sold out shows. Osaka's parents... they were serious actors!

Pieces of things Osaka had said in the past began falling into place. "So," Tomo began, "You said that stuff about him being a prince because of his work on stage." Osaka nodded. "Oh, last week you were talking about your brother! You said 'that little ferret hogged the TV remote' and 'the little ferret ate all the bacon rolls'. You really said that because..."

"Because he's a ferret," Osaka agreed, pointing at the smiling boy again.

Tomo laughed that suddenly some of the strange things Osaka said made sense. "So when your mom threw away several of your favorite romance mangas last month and you said 'that witch from hell'..."

"No that was something else," Osaka said, hastily trying to change the topic. "So how is your tea? Its turmeric you know." The woman dressed as a geisha frowned at her daughter.

"Ah, look at the time," Mr Kasuga interrupted. "We had better get things moving along." As he stood up, Tomo got a better chance to look at him under calmer circumstances. He was a handsome man in this armor, although he wasn't as tall as she had imagined at first. Part of it was the shoes, but moreso was the topknot of hair for his ponytail. It had several black leather rings tied around it that held up the hair, making him seem taller. In fact, that might actually be a hair extension piece that was part of his costume and not his real hair at all, she decided. Though if that were true, it was very well done.

Mrs Kasuga agreed that they were running a tad late, so she said, "I think the best way to get everyone something to eat and get going is just to serve it up buffet style. We have the food in the kitchen, everyone just get a plate and we'll get things going. Everyone just be careful with your costumes. Ayumu dear, will you help Hilda out with serving in the kitchen?"

Osaka stood up and smiled, "Sure. Hey Tomo, you wanna help too? We can serve up plates of food cuz neither one of us is in costume." Then she suddenly stopped herself, "Oh, I'm sorry, that was rude. You're a guest here. Just grab a cushion and I'll get you something to eat."

"Huh? No, that's ok, I'd be glad to help. Let's get in there and see what we can do." Tomo was actually beginning to enjoy herself quite a bit. Seeing the people in these fanciful costumes lining up for a quick dinner, hearing the conversations of the actors, it was actually quite exciting. She and Osaka put on aprons and began scooping food onto dishes, making sure to keep things to the middle of the plates to minimize chance of spills. She also noticed a lot of the food was specifically chosen to be less messy, like spring rolls and other things without sauce.

Osaka had a couple close calls in the kitchen, almost dropping kettles, but Tomo managed to help her catch her balance in time. A young boy of about nine or ten years old dressed in a dog costume kept running through the kitchen which threatened to trip up Osaka.

The wildcat shooed the boy out and then marveled at the number of people. Now that everyone was seated, either at the tables or on floor cushions, she took a moment to enjoy it. It was all so... so lively and colorful. She could see how Osaka would grow up with an unusual imagination in a house like this.

Osaka stepped up behind Tomo and slid her arms around her waist, putting her cheek on the energetic girl's shoulder. "I'm glad you decided to come for dinner. Not just because of helpin' in the kitchen, but to be here for this. I hope you don't think this is too weird."

Tomo put her hands over Osaka's. "Are you kidding?" she asked with a smile. "This is so much fun! I never imagined you did such interesting things at your house."

"Oh, well we really don't. I mean, we do have theater people over all the time, but almost never in costumes. Although we do have fittings here sometimes. On some occasions I go with them for a rehearsal or a play. I always go see the play a few times."

"Aren't you going tonight?" Tomo asked.

Osaka shook her head, "Nope, not at the first dress rehearsals. Also, once they open I can't go see it too often. Ya know, the theater is a business and they can't always give away tickets to every family member and friends all the time. If I was working there, I would go. Sometimes I used to do backstage stuff."

"How come you don't dress up in costumes and act too?"

"Ha. You're joking, right? I tried a couple times, but not on a real stage. Just here at home reading lines. But I always forget my lines or mix-em up with other parts. No, I'm no good at acting. Some people can and some people can't. It sure is fun to watch though."

"Yeah," Tomo said, "This is really cool."

Tomo forgot to get herself a plate of food, but busied herself by carrying tea around and shortly thereafter, collecting dishes to rinse and stack in the kitchen. Ayumu also kept busy helping out as her parents and all their guests prepared to leave.

Mrs. Kasuga peeked into the kitchen. "You girls can just leave all the dishes for us later. All these leftovers do need to go in the refrigerator, but you can eat all you want. Tomo dear, if you want to take some home, help yourself."

Mr Kasuga came in to hug his daughter goodbye. The two girls could hear people heading out the front doors, so Ayumu gave her dad a big good-luck-hug. "Bye sweetie," he said. He looked over at Tomo and paused. "Thanks for your help and it was very nice to meet you."

"Is it ok if she spends the night?" Ayumu asked.

He scratched at his hairline while looking at his wife. "You know, we have always talked about what to do when Ayumu brought home her first boyfriend. Rules and such. Like how late they are staying." The parents looked at each other for a moment. "Aw hell, it's not like anyone's going to get pregnant. You two have a good time." Tomo looked in shock at that comment.

Osaka's mother said, "Ayumu, we won't be home until around 3 or 4 in the morning so don't wait up. Oh, and if you need any clean sheets there are some in the hall closet." She turned and they waved goodbye. "Goodnight girls!"

Osaka followed them to the door waving goodbye, then closed and locked the door behind them. "So, ya hungry yet? Let's see what good stuff is left behind. We can reheat it in the microwave too."

* * *

The afternoon crickets hummed outside the window while she worked on her homework. There was a lot to be done. Two chapters of reading for Classical Literature and one chapter for Math, followed by the problems to be solved. Then a chapter of History and a paper to write. 

She knew she didn't have to do it all tonight, there was an entire weekend in front of her. Still, Yomi hated to put off the inevitable. Her scores were always higher if she did her homework right after school when her mind was still focused on studying and details of class work were still fresh in her memory.

After the first chapter of Classical Lit, her tummy growled at her, reminding her how many long and painful hours had passed since lunchtime. At first she resisted, trying to read, then turning on the radio for background noise.

_"We have fresh steamed clams and the finest crabs anywhere in Tokyo! Just come down to-"_ Yomi snapped the radio back off. That didn't help at all. She threw herself onto her bed with the book and dropped face down, book on the pillow to read.

After reading the same two paragraphs for about five minutes, Yomi realized she just wasn't getting anywhere. This was destroying her ability to focus. She screamed in the empty house in frustration and beat her pillow against the bed a few times. Then she gave up and headed for the kitchen.

She reminded herself, keep it simple. Just a few rice crackers, maybe a stick of celery.

Today with Kagura had been wonderful. Just holding hands on the roof at lunch time, even covertly had been nice. It was an amazing feeling to have someone interested in just her. Just her. To have someone who wanted a romantic relationship, someone who liked _her_.

Yomi stopped in the hallway and felt the heat rising to her face as she remembered that kiss from the night before. That kiss... That kiss was nice. She almost wished there had been more, but at the same time she was also a little scared of it.

It was soft and sweet. And so...

Yomi fanned herself. It was getting hot in here.

She got to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of juice. She popped the top and took a long refreshing drink. Standing in the open door of the cooler, she could see her mom's platter of specialty eggs sliced and made up. Damn, those looked good. _Well, just one before dinner_. She pulled the plate out and put it on the table.

Kagura has such a beautiful smile. She also was amazingly good looking, head to toe. But there was something else about Kagura that Yomi liked. An inner strength or something. It wasn't all just crazy misdirected energy; she had an earnest quality too. She could tell Kagura was honestly trying her best at math yesterday. Why it was such a struggle for her, Yomi couldn't say.

Yomi savored the taste of the eggs. Mayonnaise whipped with fully cooked egg yolks, flavored and spiced to a fiery inferno, filling the empty hardboiled egg whites like an overfull cup. _God, these are good_.

She thought about Kagura more and more. Having a girlfriend would be a new experience. Different from any expectation she might have had about life with a guy, marriage, and all that came along with that. What would it be like to really be with her? Personally, sexually? Is Kagura interested in that? How far does she want to take this relationship? Well, from the way Kagura has been talking and acting, pretty far. Should she ask her about it? No, there is no way to ask someone about that, especially someone you have only started dating. Excuse me, but are you planning on having sex with me sometime soon? If that doesn't sound slutty!

What will her parents think of this? She had avoided talking about it to them completely, which had been pretty easy so far. But she knew her parents were rather straight-laced people in some regards. They probably won't accept this news very well. Yomi was sure this wasn't anything they needed to hear about any time soon.

She remembered the time they had tried to set her up on a date with the son of one of their friends. It hadn't gone very well and all he talked about was baseball. Just thinking about it gave her an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

Both parents clearly had expected something to come of this, but neither he nor Yomi seemed interested enough to attempt a second date. In a way she was relieved and in another it had made her wonder about herself. What was so wrong with her that this boy wasn't even interested in asking for a second date? Still, she would have said no.

Yomi enjoyed the flaming blast of spices on her tongue as she licked the creamy topping off an egg.

The only other time she had really liked a boy was that guy last year in high school. She had thought he was kinda cute until Tomo found out. Then Tomo spread it like public news that Yomi was madly and passionately in love with him, dreaming of him during her every waking moment. Even still it made her cringe to think about what embarrassment Tomo put her through. Needless to say, she never did try to talk to him after that; and was immensely relieved when he ended up in Kurosawa's home room for third year.

Why Tomo still was alive, she often wondered.

Tomo. She's over at Osaka's house today. She's probably sitting down at the table right now to have dinner with Osaka's family. Her parents and one, or is it two brothers? She tried to remember. Is there a sister in there too? Yomi tried to picture what it would be like at the Kasuga house for dinner. Monkeys swinging around the room and everyone having bananas for dinner. Maybe a huge bowl of mayonnaise in the middle of the table that everyone would dip their banana in before each bite. Or something like that. _Tomo is going to fit right in to that family_, she growled to herself.

Why the hell is Tomo suddenly acting all interested in Osaka? All Tomo ever did before is make fun of her or play tricks on her. Ok, that wasn't true. Actually Tomo got along pretty well with her most of the time. Osaka had been a good friend to all of them since the first days of high school. She might seem spacey, but she was a reliable friend with a kind heart. Still, Tomo had never show any kind of special interest in her, especially not _THAT_ kind of interest!

Yomi tore open the bag of cookies from the counter. Something about this was just pissing her off.

Twenty minutes later, she heard her parents coming home from work. She looked at the empty egg platter on the table and the half a bag of cookies in her hand. She quickly cleaned up any signs of her presence in the kitchen and ran for the bathroom.

* * *

Kagura hit the water like a knife, shooting beneath the surface with barely a splash. Like a lean torpedo she shot forward underwater, perfectly centered in her lane and covering quite some distance before necessity brought her up for a quick breath of air. 

If her body was totally focused on her swimming, her mind was on something else. Yomi. Kagura couldn't believe how well things had gone. It was almost like a dream to her. Everything she had ever imagined that might be possible now seemed just within reach. The one person she admired most in the world had accepted her, as she was and for who she was.

She reached the end of the pool and quickly turned and pushed herself off the wall with her legs for momentum, racing back on her return lap. She was more energized than she had ever been in her life. In the back of her mind she remembered that there were spectators here today. Some of them were parents of the other team members, some of them were classmates. A few teachers had shown up as well, although thankfully not Kimura. There had also been a couple of bigshots from the Education Board, probably here to evaluate Ms Kurosawa.

None of these people meant anything to Kagura. Her parents weren't here because they were at work of course. She didn't fault them for that. It might have been nice to have Yomi here though. _But hey, Yomi has her deal and I have mine_, she thought. _I don't want to suffocate her. That would be like a swimmer not allowed air_, she compared in her mind as she snatched a quick breath and spun for another lap.

Yes, air is a good thing. Air is our friend. The same has to be true in relationships. Give Yomi some breathing room and time on her own so she doesn't feel crowded. This all has to be sudden for her to absorb and adjust to. She shouldn't be expected to just uproot her whole lifestyle in a moments notice. Twist, kick off the wall.

Like that deal with Tomo. So what if Tomo is a little bossy sometimes? She is a pest, because that's just who she is. _Hell, I'm a pretty big pest sometimes too._ Yomi had been friends with her forever and Kagura hoped it stayed that way. Honestly, she had come to regard Tomo as one of her own closest friends too. She didn't want to lose Tomo's friendship during this time of change. Not for herself or for Yomi. But Yomi's happiness had to come first, no matter what. Kagura just had to figure out how to let them both understand that.

Kagura understood swimming. She understood swimming like nothing else in this world. Her body understood it too. Her powerful legs were driving her forward with hardly any wasted wake. Her arms moving and pulling in a steady unbroken rhythm. Her body taking deep breaths of air at precise moments to keep her going and without slowing her down.

_I may be an idiot. I may get the worst grades in Japan for all I know, but if I can do one thing right, then it means I can focus. I can pilot my life on my own. And if I can prove that to Yomi, that I'm not some stupid loser, then maybe she will realize I am worth something._

Spin, kick off the wall; spin, kick off the wall; spin, kick off the wall.

Kagura heard Ms Kurosawa blow the whistle in her "time's up" pattern, so Kagura dove to the bottom of the pool as she approached the deep end. Shafts of sunlight penetrated into the depths of the water, shifting and shining blue as she continued to race deeper. Her fingertips glided along the smooth tile texture of the pool floor before she turned upwards and shot to the surface. She reached her hands out of the water and grabbed the lip of the deck as she rose, lifting with both arms to keep her momentum and pulling her feet up quickly to be standing on the solid surface in one fluid move.

Other students were milling around the perimeter of the pool enclosure. Those in the water were making their way to the ladders to get out. One of Kagura's friends on the swim team tossed her a towel and she began drying her face and hair. Ms Kurosawa approached her, carrying a clipboard and her stopwatch. With her were two people she didn't recognize. A man in a suit and tie and a woman also in business attire.

Ms Kurosawa said, "Miss Kagura. I'd like to introduce you to two people that have come here today to observe our swim team. This is Mr Nakamura of the Board of Education. This is Ms Ita from the PTA." They all exchanged pleasant bows as Ms Kurosawa handed the clipboard to Mr Nakamura.

He looked at the clipboard and dangled his own stop watch from his hand. "Rather impressive lap-times today, Miss Kagura."

"Thank you very much. Ms Kurosawa has been an excellent instructor and coach."

Nakamura said, "If you have a moment, I have a couple questions I'd like to ask you." Kagura nodded. "Very well," he continued, "I understand that for a while you held fourth place in the regionals in your last year of junior high."

Kagura was surprised to hear such a detail come up, so she just said, "Yes, that's true..."

"But you dropped out of the running before the semi-finals. Do you mind if I ask why?"

She took a moment before answering this, "Well, it wasn't my intention to drop out of the competition. But the fact is, my father's job requires him to move often. Unfortunately, we had very short notice that time and... the day of the semi-finals, my parents and I were on a train moving to a new city."

"I see. Yes, that would be rather unfortunate timing. So how are things now? Is you family on the move again now?"

"No sir. As a matter of fact, he has taken a vice-presidency job at the main office here in Tokyo. He says this move is permanent."

Mr. Nakamura smiled at her, "Ah that must be very reassuring for you. Let me ask you Ms Kagura. Would you like another shot at it?"

"Do you mean...?"

"I am asking you Ms Kagura. Would you consider representing this district in the upcoming competition?"

* * *

Tomo decided to clean up the kitchen mess before anything else, so she started washing off the dishes. Osaka followed her in to assist, but promptly managed to spill a kettle of warm soapy water she was trying to lift out of the sink. Tomo reached to grab it in time to prevent it from falling, but got soaked in the process. They decided that Osaka's job would be to put the extra food in plastic containers. 

Tomo asked, "So Osa- I mean, Ayumu. Have your parents done theater work always? I mean, since you were little?"

"Yep," She said, stuffing half a spring roll in her mouth. "That's how they knew each other, from acting classes in college. About a year after my elder brother was born, they decided to get married. He is in college now taking acting and business classes. Then I was born and then my little brother, who you met."

"So both your brothers act?"

Osaka nodded, "My elder brother does stage acting but he is trying for TV and movies. You probably saw him on TV and didn't know it. Ya ever see that commercial about the guy who can't blow his nose? That's my big brother. He's in this play too. And he's been an extra in a couple movies."

Tomo couldn't recollect that commercial, so she asked, "He's in this play? Was he here today dressed up?"

"Nuh uh. He's been all day at the theater gettin things ready. Unofficially, he is an assistant stage manager. So all the stage hands that didn't come here are over there fixing all the last minute things."

"Is it kinda weird having all your family doing this and you're not?"

Osaka sighed, "A little. But I'm just not cut out for this kinda work. I told you I can't memorize lines. When I tried to do backstage stuff, well, I had a couple accidents and knocked over some props. I even broke some. So I feel kinda bad that I was teasing you about dropping me on my head because I know I am a hundred times clumsier than you," she admitted, straightening her stocking cap.

"For a while this summer I even tried to work in their office. Ya know, my dad runs it. The whole thing. He wrote the last two plays they have done and is head of the troupe. That's why they have meetings and parties and stuff over here. Anyhows, I did some of their office work but I mixed up a bunch of papers and lost some too. A few people got pretty mad. We decided I probably shouldn't work there no more." Osaka crunched on some vegetables while she talked. "I thought about takin a part-time job at the Dairy Freeze but I need to keep up on my school work. My mom says I shouldn't divide my time and attention between too many things."

Tomo continued to scrub and rinse dishes, placing them in the drying rack. "I thought about getting a part-time job too. But my step-dad said not until my grades come up. Like, he thinks working at a job is a reward or something. It kinda pisses me off."

"He won't let you work to earn yourself money, but he let's you go spend all night with friends which doesn't pay anybody anything. That's kinda pointless," Osaka observed.

Tomo laughed in agreement, "Well, the idea that he _lets_ me spend time with friends may be stretching it. I just don't go home, like tonight. Either that or I climb out the window. So I don't think you can say he _lets_ me do it. I just do it."

"You don't seem to like your dad that much," Osaka slowly said.

"My dad? He was the greatest. It's my step-dad who is an ass," Tomo started scrubbing a kettle. "Ayumu? Do you mind if we don't talk about him now? I'm actually having a lot of fun here today. I know I'm the one who mentioned him, so... I'm sorry. My bad."

Osaka gave Tomo a smile. "You're having fun here? Look at you. Ya came over and we stuck an apron on you. Ya been servin food and now washing dishes. Yer covered in soapsuds all up and down," she giggled, "and you think this was fun? I was feeling awful guilty."

Tomo flicked some soapsuds at Osaka, "Yeah, this has been loads of fun. Your dad scared the shit outta me at first, but once I got to know a few people, definitely, this has been fun." Her stomach growled and she added, "The food smells really good too, so in a second I am gonna scoop up the biggest plate of chow you have ever seen."

Osaka grabbed a towel and began drying two plates. "Here, I'll get yours ready for you. Hey, what do ya wanna do tonight? We have a lot of good movies if we want to pop one in."

"What kind have you got?"

"Well, we can go for explosions, blood and splatter if you like, or - Oh! I'd love you to see my favorite movie. Although it's pretty sad and romantic."

"Ok. Can we watch sad and romantic, then liven it up with some blood and splat?"

Osaka shook her head, "Not with this one. But we can do it the other way around. Action movie first, romance movie later if that's ok. I just don't like to watch anything else after this one."

Tomo was curious now, "What movie is this?"

"It's called 'Sekai no chûshin de, ai o sakebu' (Crying out love in the center of the world). It's my favorite movie and I have seen it a million times."

"So what's it about?" Tomo asked while scrubbing.

"Um. I don't want to give it away. But it's a sad story. Ok, there is this guy. And he is about 34 or 35 years old. Something happens, I won't say what, that makes him think back to his first true love when he was in high school. So he goes back to his old home town and remembers his school days. They show it in flashbacks of him being a teenager and going to school and falling in love with this girl. They had to talk to each other by sending recordings on cassette tapes back and forth. It's really cool and I can't describe it too well."

Osaka was putting food on their plates, "Anyhow, you can watch it and then laugh at me when I cry my eyes out if you want."

Tomo chuckled at the thought. She put up the last of the dishes and looked down at herself. "Uh, Osaka. I'm soaked." She pulled off the apron which helped a little, but her school uniform was still damp and splotched on the sleeves with water and some grease.

"Yeah, mine too. Well, we better change out of these wet things," Osaka looked up at Tomo with a sudden impish grin, "it's too early for me to be makin indecent suggestions, so how would you like to see what I have that fits ya?"

"Oh my god!" Tomo yelled, trying to pretend to be shocked, "You're such a tramp!" Tomo threw her balled up apron at Osaka, nailing her right in the head and almost sending her off balance. Much to the wildcat's surprise, Osaka reached for the sprayer in the kitchen sink and hosed Tomo down with cold water, laughing all the while.

Tomo shrieked as she tried to block the spray. Finding nothing more suitable to use as a shield than her hands, she jumped toward Osaka and the two wrestled for control of the hose. Water was flying everywhere from floor to ceiling as Osaka laughed and struggled to keep control of the nozzle, but Tomo quickly overpowered her. As Osaka slid to floor, Tomo sprayed her in the face and soaked her hat with the water, then shoved the sprayer down the front of the space cadets outfit for a fast splash.

"That should cool you down!" she laughed. She turned off the water as both girls fought for air from laughing so hard. She slid down to sit beside Osaka. "Damn, now this place is a mess. After all that work, look at it."

"So what?" Osaka answered, pulling off the wet stocking cap and tossing it up into the sink. "It's just water. It's not like we were spraying barbeque sauce around the house. All those clean dishes that got washed and rinsed are still clean, just wetter. Here," she said while getting to her feet, "I'll get the mop and some towels and take care of it." When she stood up, a rainfall of water splashed off her clothes onto the floor. She opened up a little closet door and pulled out a mop and a stack of old towels.

"I'll help you out. I don't want you to get into trouble," Tomo grinned. "My mom would freak out."

"For what? This water? Huh. We get in water fights all the time," Osaka said.

"Who?" Tomo asked, "You and your little brother, the ferret?"

"Oh sometimes. But sometimes all of us. Mom and dad and both my brothers and me. Everybody gets into it. It's a battle of survival. And sometimes my brothers will both protect me while dad will try to drench me. But then they try to spray mom and so dad runs to protect her. It's really funny."

"What? Your parents get into it too?" Tomo stood in disbelief.

The mop handle fell to the floor when Osaka dropped both the mop and the towels to reveal a large bright green and orange spray gun she had held concealed under the stack of towels. While vigorously pumping the shotgun-like handle, she sprayed a solid blast of water at Tomo's middle. "This is my dad's," Osaka shouted, "He thinks I don't know where he hid it last."

As Tomo scrambled back to find cover, Osaka let up and hefted the gun over her shoulder. Tomo yelled "Cease fire!" and stepped out with her hands raised. Her armed opponent gave a goofy grin at her.

Tomo laughed and looked at the floor. "Good thing this is tile, otherwise you'd have water damage for sure."

Osaka replied, "Yeah, tile right up to the walls, then weatherproofing where they meet. Notice how the paint on the walls is kinda shiny? My dad used a weatherproof paint for that too. Maybe it's an outdoor kinda paint, I don't really know. But after all the years of water fights, he has this end of the house pretty well protected."

"This end?"

"Yeah, those are the water fight rules. From the kitchen, down that back hall, including the back porch and back door. Down the hall to the washroom, the laundry room and the toilet. The whole back end of the house is tile floored and safe for water. He did that also partly because my little brother would pee in the hallway when he was little, we don't know why. And he denies remembering it now, so don't ask him, he'll just get mad.

"The living room is mostly off limits for water, because of all the electronics. You know, TV, stereo, DVD players and computer. No flying water allowed in there. The barrier between the water fight kitchen and the living room is this dining room. Its wood floored like the living room, so any water has to come up right away. But there is nothing electronic here so no one will _die_ if one squirt of water misses somebody.

"The bedrooms are on special rules. They are off limits for water fights except during the hottest parts of summer and even then, only if everything electronic has been put away in the closets first. No water upstairs ever."

Tomo hoisted herself up to sit on the kitchen counter and instantly regretted it by receiving a wet bottom and hopped back down. "Your family has organized water fight rules? That's nuts."

Osaka leveled the gun at Tomo once more, "You're on my turf now bitch, and you play by my rules." She landed one final shot dead center in the chest before her Weapon of Doom was wrestled away from her by the grinning wildcat. Osaka scrambled down the hall to take cover in the washroom, but Tomo called her back out.

"I'm gonna eat all the food while you are hiding," she yelled, stuffing food in her mouth at record speed while aiming the gun down the hall. "Ith rlly guud too", she tried to say with her mouth full.

Ayumu peeked out the door to receive a blast to the forehead. As she jumped back, Tomo said, "Osaka, wait! Really I am done now. No more water fight today." Ayumu carefully looked out again as Tomo put the gun in the sink. She saw her friend scooping another big bite of dinner and then grabbing the mop. With that, Ayumu came back into the kitchen to help clean up the water.

Tomo said, "You know, you really are nuts. But in a good way."

Osaka now had a towel under each foot and was slowly swooshing her way along the edge of the room, drying any water drops off the walls and surfaces with a towel in her hands. "I hoped you wouldn't be mad at me for squirting you. Not everyone takes it well."

"I thought it was freakin hysterical," Tomo said, getting the clean floor dried off. "My biggest worry is... well, Ok, I don't want you to slip and fall on the wet floor. That's all you need right now is to get hurt again."

Ayumu stopped and looked at her friend. "Thanks for worrying about me."

The two girls got the place back in order and Osaka was able to find some dry clothes that fit Tomo well enough, a pair of baggy sweatpants that Osaka had never worn and a giant sleep t-shirt.

The two girls lounged on the couch, Osaka foregoing a stocking cap on her head with a devil-may-care whimsy of living dangerously, so she said. They watched a couple action movies that night, followed by the romance movie Ayumu liked. And sure enough, within seven minutes of the movie starting, Ayuma was crying a torrent on Tomo's sleeve.

Tomo wondered if this is what Yomi and Kagura were doing together tonight.

It wasn't until shortly after the movie when Ayumu pulled Tomo into her bedroom for the night that Tomo began to get very nervous.

* * *

_**More A/N -**_

_Eggs Mizuhara style:_ Yes, I am describing "deviled eggs". I have no idea how popular those are in Japan, but I know hard boiled eggs are very common in Japanese food and mayonnaise is the #1 condiment of choice in Japan, beating catsup, mustard, salsa, vinegar or anything else. If they aren't popular, then they darn well should be. I'll go make a fortune with my Super Egg stand, see you later!

Oh, but of course the Mizuharas spice them up far hotter than most people would. They don't really have to be that spicy to be good. I am making myself insanely hungry while writing this. When is dinner? (moan)

_'Sekai no chûshin de, ai o sakebu'_ (Crying out love in the center of the world). This really is a Japanese movie. There has also been a TV series and a manga based on this story, which was originally a book written in 2003. Its a great movie, but you can only get it as Region 2 DVD so far. I love it, and yes I cry seven minutes into the movie too.

* * *

_**Omake:**_ _This piece is just for fun and is definately _**_not_**_ part of the story._

Tomo laughed and looked at the floor. "Good thing this is tile, otherwise you'd have water damage for sure."

Osaka replied, "Yeah, tile right up to the walls, then weatherproofing where they meet. My dad used a weatherproof paint in here too. After all the years of waterfights, he has this end of the house pretty well protected."

"A waterproof house, huh?"

"Yeah, and it cleans up real good too," Osaka added, pointing at the countertop and floor with a big kitchen knife in her hand. "Last night I had a hell of a mess here on the kitchen floor. There was something I was shovin in the blender that just didn't wanna stay in there. You wouldn't believe the stuff that got on the walls and floor," she giggled. "But once I was done, a quick scrubdown with a mop and then all the last bits into the garbage disposal with a couple teaspoons of this." She pulled out of the cupboard a bottle marked _Extra Strength Jack-B-Gone._

"This stuff dissolves anything, including bone fragments and hair in seconds. Then a little squirt of water to clean out the pipes and not even the freakin CSI teams have anything left to find!", she said with a dreamy smile. "I can't tell you how many times this stuff has come in handy."

Tomo swallowed hard as the fading daylight glinted off the sharp blade of Osaka's knife. "Say Tomo, you aren't really gonna dump me for Yomi by the end of this story, are you?"


	7. What I Like About You

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Azumanga Daioh.** Although I did buy the DVDs. In fact, I first saw the show quite a while back when a friend loaned me the full collection. IT WAS AWESOME! XD (But you know that, of course.) So one day I saw the boxed set for sale and I bought it for myself. Yay! But you know what? It was the five disc thinpack set, stripped of all the extras. Boo Hoo. Why does ADV do that? Those little guidebook inserts in the original set were so cool and so were the animated menus. Well, a friend hooked me up with a full set of the insert booklets, so I'll stop crying now.

The first thing I want to do is thank everyone who has been sending in their reviews! Those really make my day, thank you so very much!

Also, I have a question for you. In chapter five, I did Kimura's puppet show from hell and Kaorin's weird parents. It sparked an idea with me about Kaorin getting a _very_ hard time from Kimura. However, Osaka has kept me pretty busy and I haven't pursued it yet. So I leave it up to you. Shall I bring Kaorin back for another cry-fest? Or should I leave her alone? Let the votes begin!

**Warning:** I think it is time to reiterate my _Shoujo-Ai warning_, as this is the chapter where things start to heat up. Shoujo-Ai means girl plus girl romantic relationships. There is gonna be some of this and that...

* * *

_**Chapter Seven - What I Like About You**_

* * *

Tomo enjoyed the morning breeze. Actually, it was past noon already, she had slept in so late. She was reclining lengthwise on a bench swing that was padded with a colorful flower pattern cloth. Overhead, a matching awning shielded her from whatever may come from above, be it rain, ultraviolet radiation, or bird poops. At the moment, none of those things seemed to pose any imminent danger.

The Kasuga family didn't really have that big of a back yard, although what little they did have they made the most of. The small patio held this swing and a circular table with two chairs. Beyond the edge of the patio flooring was a gravel area which had three slender bamboo trees growing up against the back of the building behind them and row of flower planters to the sides.

The wall of the building itself had been fancifully painted with animals frolicking on a grassy hillside. Several different animals, but mostly rabbits. The rabbit in the foreground was wearing a pink embroidered hat. Otherwise, the rest of the animals looked normal, if perhaps a bit happy. All of the painting was done quite nicely, clearly not simply painted on by children. The three bamboo trees against that wall added to the illusion of the hillside and Tomo discovered that if she unfocused her eyes a little it did look like a large open area.

The illusion was only broken when you took in the surroundings. Or letting your gaze wander up the hillside to the painted blue and white sky, which gave way to the faded brick wall about five meters up.

The back door slid open and Ayumu wandered out. She was carrying a pitcher of juice and a couple glasses. Pouring one for Tomo, she sat in one of the two chairs.

"So who painted all that on the wall?" Tomo asked.

"Oh, we did that when we first moved here," she said, while pouring a drink for herself. "My dad did it and a couple of the background painters from the theater helped him. Or maybe he helped them, however it went. Anyhow my mom loves rabbits and so they made this for her. And it kinda makes the yard seem like more than it really is."

The breeze made the slender bamboo trees sway ever so slightly and Tomo sighed, "It really is relaxing."

"Yeah it is. I fall asleep on the toilet sometimes because you can see it from there," Osaka affirmed. "You can also see it from the laundry room or that kitchen window. It really helps make it seem bigger, since a lot of houses are jammed in pretty close. I couldn't believe how tight packed houses were when we moved here from Osaka."

"Is it really that different?" Tomo asked.

"Nah, not really I guess. It just depends on the neighborhood. Like Chiyo-chan's home is on a huge piece of property. This one sits against that building. It's the same in Osaka in places too, I imagine. But we lived out on the edge of town and near hills, like that one," she indicated the painting on the wall.

"So, why did you move to a more crowded city?"

"That was my parents work. See, after his first big success with his Aquarian Dreams play in Osaka, they were invited to come play in Tokyo on a much larger stage. They were able to buy into a partnership with the theater, so now they are here to stay." Ayumu took a drink of her juice. "I was scared of moving at first, but I love it here now."

Tomo tilted her head to look at the girl. Osaka gave her a warm yet kind of spacey smile. Tomo smiled at her and drank her juice. But she spit it out again when Osaka suddenly asked, "Now that we have slept together, does that mean I'm not a virgin anymore?"

Choking, Tomo sat up quickly. After coughing for a moment she managed to say, "No Osaka, that is not what it means. Sleeping together and... _sleeping together_ are two different things. All we did was sleep!"

She noticed Osaka was grinning at her. "Yeah, I know that. Ya ok? Ya need some life support or mouth to mouth?"

"You dingbat," Tomo laughed. "You could have killed me with a wisecrack like that. I coughed juice up my nose."

"Death by strawberry juice," Osaka solemnly intoned. "That would be an embarrassin' obituary." She handed Tomo a packet of tissues to mop up the juice drops.

Tomo shook her head as she wiped a few drops off the big shirt she was wearing. Last night had given her some worries about Osaka. Ayumu had led her into the bedroom and Tomo was really starting to get concerned. When Ayumu climbed into bed and invited Tomo to join her, she had reluctantly agreed. Ayumu snuggled up to her as if she was her favorite teddy bear and within minutes had fallen asleep.

She had been relieved. She was afraid she was going to spend the night playing "don't touch me _there!_" with Osaka and it had actually turned out ok. Well except for when she woke up and found Osaka's hand draped over her chest. Still, it hadn't bothered her so she just went back to sleep.

* * *

Yomi had never seen a clock tick so slowly in her life.

Today she had an actual date with Kagura. They had talked on the phone last night, agreeing to meet up around 2:30 after Kagura's swim team practice let out. Then they would go see a movie and get something to eat. Dinner and a movie might have seemed rather predictable, but for Yomi it was very exciting.

On the phone, Kagura had seemed pretty excited too. Also, she had said she had some news she wanted to tell her in person. That made Yomi a little nervous, but Kagura insisted it was some good news, nothing to worry about.

Yomi had spent the morning finishing her homework, most of which she had not done last night. Then she took a long hot shower. Afterwards came the choosing of the clothes. Black skirt with stockings, of course. But picking out the right top was a lot harder. Finally she settled on a cream colored blouse that had two rows of small red roses embroidered down the front on either side of the buttons.

She had briefly toyed with the idea of wearing her matching set of red lace underwear and bra today, if only to make herself feel a bit more attractive in her own mind. However, the choice of the light blouse meant a white bra instead unless she wanted it to show through, no thank you.

As the time approached to get going, Yomi suddenly made up her mind on perfume. She normally didn't use much, but today was a special occasion. As such, she got out a small bottle of very nice perfume that her father had bought for her on her birthday. It was called "Warm Days/Cold Nights" and smelled heavenly. It might be a bit expensive, but what better time to use it than today?

A few quick spritzes of the fragrance and Yomi felt ready to go. She picked up her purse and after checking the contents for the hundredth time today, she set off. She felt a tingle of excitement rush through her body as she stepped out the door. This was for real. This was her first true date of her own choosing in her life. She didn't count that one set-up date her parents put her on, nor did all the times going out with Tomo count either. Those had just been two friends out together. This was different. Kagura had an interest in Yomi, a romantic interest. Yomi felt it too. She felt herself attracted to Kagura in a way she never would have imagined.

The breeze blew her hair as she reached the sidewalk and she knew she was stepping into a new chapter of her life.

* * *

Tomo looked at Osaka with curiosity. She knew that something was wrong with all this and she didn't feel comfortable just letting things drag on. She knew deep down that it was unfair to Osaka and she really didn't want to see her get hurt by all this. But in that selfish corner of her mind, she knew she had never had anyone confess their love for her before and that was just too hard to let go of that easily, regardless of the fact that it was all built on a misunderstanding. 

She asked, "So Ayumu. What... what is it that you like about me? I mean, I hear you talk in front of everyone that you know my feelings, but... what do _you_ feel? What makes you think you are in love with me?"

Osaka suddenly got very serious, "I understand completely. You have put your heart and soul on the line for me. You are having doubts of my love for you since I have not given any proper display of affection. Very well then, I will explain myself so that you may understand."

"Umm, no that isn't exactly what I meant, but ok," Tomo agreed.

"First of all, I want you to know that I do love you very much. I now realize that it started with you being such a good friend to me since I moved to Tokyo. I... I never had any real friends in Osaka, not really. There were a couple girls who lived near me and we would play together sometimes, but mostly I stayed at home with only my brothers to be with.

"Ya see, it may come as a surprise to you, but some people think I am kinda weird," Osaka confessed.

Tomo suppressed a smile while she replied, "Really? No way."

"Yeah, it's true." Osaka nodded her head vigorously. "Sometimes people tell me that I am slow or spacey. And sometimes I ask weird questions. The truth is I can't help it if I am just more curious about some stuff. It all gets me to wonderin about everything. I think that is why Chiyo-chan and I are so much alike. Some days I think we are exactly the same, like some kinda twins or somethin. Always wantin to know new things."

"Well, curiosity is a good thing most of the time. You do come up with some interesting ideas to talk about, I admit."

Osaka slid off her chair to kneel beside Tomo, putting her head in her lap. "See? That's what I mean. You understand me more. Or at least you put up with me. Not like those girls I was tellin you about from Osaka. They would sometimes let me play with them at home, but when we got to school, they had their own friends. Then they wouldn't sit with me or nothing. Maybe I embarrassed them too much, ya know, to be seen talking to me. I dunno. I never really had any good friends until I came to Tokyo."

Tomo began feeling self-conscious and kinda bad for Osaka, so she gently laid her hand on Osaka's head, stroking her silky dark hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about that."

Ayumu slid her arms around Tomo's waist. "That's why I love all of you. You, Koyomi, Sakaki, even Kagura too now. Chiyo-chan most of all though. But I mean love in the friend way for them. Because even if I am the strange one, you all still invite me to eat lunch with you and walk with me to the vending machines and stuff like that. Or like when Chiyo-chan invited all her best friends to her house and then to her summer home. Nobody never asked me to go on a trip before!

"Plus you all help me out whenever I am in trouble, or just do nice things for me. Like when Sakaki pulled me outta that ditch last week, or when you got my shoes out of the tree."

"Yeah, but that is what friendship is about. I don't know if that's a definition of love," Tomo observed.

"I know, but I'm just saying it started with the friendship. And you're right, that _is_ what friends do for each other. But I have never had a guy go out of his way to do nothing nice like that for me. Well, except last month when that guy with glasses... what's his name, Ohyama helped me look for my pen in the closet."

"Ok, I know what you mean but I'm just concerned that you might be confusing friendship with lo-" Tomo stopped abruptly. "Wait a minute. I just heard _Ohyama_ and _closet_ in the same sentence. What happened?"

"Oh, nothing. He was just lending a hand when I lost my pen in the coat closet."

Tomo sat up, "And? Start from the start."

Osaka sighed and rolled her eyes. "Good grief. It was nothin'. He was just very helpful to me. I was puttin up that blue jacket of mine in the coat closet when I had bumped into him. I was lookin for a silver pen I had put in my shirt pocket but I had lost it. He helped me."

"Helped you _how_?" Tomo asked.

"Well, I couldn't find it nowheres. So he searched in both of my pockets on my shirt. Then he said maybe I had missed the pocket and dropped it inside the shirt, so he checked all over to see if he could feel it stuck anywhere in there. Oh, and first he slid the door shut tight so if the pen fell out it wouldn't roll out the door."

"He did, did he?"

"Yep, I hafta say, he really tried his best to find that darn pen, even though it got awful hot in there after a while."

"That bastard. When I get to school Monday, he is going to be the Mayor of Deadville."

"A Mayor? I didn't know he was runnin for any offices ever since he ran for student council. Hey, can I vote for him too?"

"Oh yeah, Ayumu. I'll even punch his ballot for you," the wildcat snarled.

"Hooray!" Osaka yelled with both hands raised up high. "I've always wanted to vote for somethin!"

* * *

Yomi sat on the swiveling stool at the long counter of the coffee house. Behind her were the rows of tables by the windows. Kagura was perched on her own chair, but she kept hopping off to wave her arms in the air while she talked. The brunette smiled at her girlfriend's hyperactive body language.

News of the upcoming swim competition was all Kagura could talk about. She was totally excited about it and ready to start today, it seemed. Yomi voiced her confidence in her.

"So," Kagura asked, "Do you think you might want to come to a swim meet or two? Just the local ones of course. They won't be here at our own school, naturally, but over at Kaedesco High School. At least the first round of placements and eliminations. If I am still in it after that, well, they get held in different places."

"Sure. With your enthusiasm, how could I resist?" Yomi smiled. "It actually sounds like a lot of fun. I'll come join your cheering section."

Kagura grinned and grabbed Yomi's hand, "This is the best year ever! I don't want to jinx it, but MAN! This is the best year ever!"

Yomi couldn't help but laugh with Kagura's energetic attitude. "Well, do you still want to go to that movie today, or would you rather save it for another time? We could just go to the park and talk or maybe go shopping. Whatever you're feeling like."

"Aw no, let's not miss the movie! It's a killer! I am totally ready for some action packed mayhem."

When they got to the theater, Kagura hit the concession stand immediately, loading up on snacks of all kinds and a giant size drink. She was stuffing a few of her purchases in her pockets because she didn't have enough hands to carry it all. Yomi stood in shock watching all this and didn't even hear the clerk ask for her order until they said it a second time. She ordered a medium size diet soda and small package of licorice drops.

"Oh man, is that all you are getting? Crap, now I feel bad for buying all this stuff."

Yomi shook her head, "No, don't worry about it. It won't bother me," she said, noticing the rich fake-buttery smell wafting from the extra-large popcorn bag.

Kagura looked around at the people passing by on their way down the hall. "I must seem like some kinda horse getting all this food. I'm sorry. Are you really ok with just that?"

"Yeah. You know, I heard that natural licorice is fifty times sweeter than sugar and it has less calories, so it's not as fattening."

Kagura shook her head as they entered the room and looked around for seats. "If there is one thing I am determined to do, it is to cure you of this delusion of yours. Look, there are lots of free seats in the back row, take one over there on the left."

"Don't you want to sit more toward the middle?" Yomi asked.

"Not today," Kagura said mischievously.

The girls took their seats and Kagura unloaded a lot of her stuff on the armrest and onto her light jacket which she spread across the seat beside her. "Damn, this floor is so sticky it's gross," Kagura complained. "They ought to just make these chairs out of that waterproof fake leather so they can come in here and wash the place down with a fire hose and then spray disinfectant all over everything. It would look cooler and be a lot cleaner. People are such slobs."

Some young grade school kids were fighting over seats about eight rows up, so Kagura flung a round chocolate covered caramel at them. "Jeez, I hope their not gonna be yelling through the whole movie." One kid looked around rubbing the side of his head while another kid next to him bent over and picked up something. He inspected it briefly before brushing it against his shirt and then popping it into his mouth.

"So you think licorice is way sweeter than sugar? Huh, I never heard that before. Ooo, I had this licorice tea once that was pretty good. Have you ever tried that?"

Yomi slowly peeled her gaze away from the cluster of children and looked at Kagura. "Licorice tea? Yes, I actually do like that. Except for the one in a can you sometimes find in vending machines. That stuff tastes awful. The best type is the kind you make at home."

"Almost all tea is best that way," Kagura agreed, stretching in her seat. She turned her gaze to look up and down Yomi. "You look really great today. I wish maybe I should have dressed a little better." She reached up to touch the end of one of Yomi's brown curls.

"You... you look really good too, Kagura," Yomi stuttered, feeling her face burn. It was obvious Kagura could see the sudden color change because her smile got bigger.

The auditorium lights began to dim and the noise of the talking people quieted down as well. Kagura leaned close to Yomi's ear and whispered to her, "This is why I wanted to sit in the back row," and she kissed her neck lightly. Then she returned back to a relaxed position in her seat and took a drink of her giant-sized soda. "You really are beautiful today. Thanks for coming with me." Yomi could see Kagura's pure white smile in the darkness.

A trailer for some scary movie appeared on the screen. Kagura groaned, "For crying out loud, what kind of absolute moron would pay money to go see _Jack Came Back - From the Grave_? I hate those lame-ass zombie movies," and she threw handfuls of popcorn at the screen.

* * *

Osaka pulled on Tomo's sleeve. "C'mon. Let's go do somethin!"

"Like what?" Tomo asked, enjoying the fact that Osaka's pulling made the bench swing sway back and forth.

"I dunno. Oh! Let's go see a movie! There is this scary zombie movie that just started this weekend."

Tomo sat up, "Yay! I LOVE zombie movies!" Then she fell back onto the bench dejected. "But... the money..."

Osaka looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I got some money still. Not much but a little. And I could ask my dad, maybe he'll give us some."

"Yeah?" Tomo looked up with a ray of hope. "Ya think? Cause that would be so awesome!"

"Yay! A movie!" Osaka cried out as she ran into the house. Unfortunately she had earlier closed the sliding glass door, so she bounced off and landed on her butt. "Ow."

At last Tomo got up from her new favorite swinging sofa and helped Osaka to her feet. "Maybe I'll go in with you. Are you ok?"

"Oh, just hurt my butt. Wanna kiss it and make it better?"

Tomo slid the door open and pushed Osaka inside. "Come on, ya smartass."

The two girls were laughing as they entered the living room. Both of Osaka's parents were in here, Mrs. Kasuga reading a newspaper and Mr. Kasuga was channel surfing with the TV remote. He looked up and smiled at the two. "Hello girls, what has you two in such good spirits this afternoon?"

Seeing Osaka's parents today had been a weird experience for Tomo. Last night, he had been a samurai and she a geisha. Today, all make-up had been removed and both were dressed in casual clothing. He still had amazingly long hair, tied back in an incredible ponytail. However, the ponytail was tied low on the back of his head near his neck, not on the very top like it was yesterday. He wore comfortable slacks and a simple blue short sleeved shirt.

Mrs. Kasuga also looked very different from her kimono-clad, white-face-painted appearance of last night. In fact, Tomo hadn't been sure it was the same person at all until Osaka said so. She had a very quiet beauty about her and she too had long hair, although it wasn't in a ponytail, nor was it as long as her husband's. She wore a very slim pair of blue jeans and a black tee shirt that said in English "Hooters".

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that Tomo found this Hooters shirt to be rather ironic. She had already noticed that she herself could probably give Osaka's mom a run for her money in the breast department. Apparently most of what she had seen last night in the geisha costume must have been padding or "stage props" one might say, to give the outfit a few more curves. Tomo thought, _And this woman has given birth to three children? No wonder Osaka and her kid brother are small for their age. They must have starved as babies_.)

Osaka came right to the point, "Could I have some money? We was thinkin of goin to see a movie or something." Tomo thought what a disaster that approach would be at her own home and was surprised to see Osaka's dad pull out his wallet without any further question.

"You really should still have some of your own money left, but here is two thousand yen. I know that won't get you too far, but it should cover movie tickets and a couple treats."

"Yay! Thanks dad!" and she gave him a hug and took the money.

Mrs. Kasuga said, "Ayumu dear, go get your purse and put the money in there. Also, you might want to change those clothes before you go out."

Osaka said, "Come on Tomo, lets get ready," while running off down the hall.

However, as Tomo followed her, she heard a rustle of newspaper and heard Osaka's mom say, "Miss Takino? A moment please?" She turned to see both parents looking at her. She glanced down the hall at where Ayumu had disappeared and felt suddenly quite alone.

"This is only because we are concerned," Mrs. Kasuga said to Tomo. Then she looked at her husband and said, "I really think you should give her another."

Mr. Kasuga nodded to his wife and said, "Come here Miss Takino." Tomo stepped closer and he pulled another two thousand yen bill out of his wallet. "This is just for... emergency money. Like if you... uh..."

"If you girls suddenly need a taxi ride home, or if Ayumu loses her purse and her money, that sort of thing," Mrs. Kasuga finished for him.

"Yes, exactly. If there is an unexpected emergency. And if you don't object, would you mind holding onto it?"

"In case Ayumu loses her purse," Mrs. Kasuga repeated.

Tomo looked at the crisp 2000 yen bill, with the Shureimon gate on the right side. It reminded her of their recent class trip to Okinawa. She carefully folded the bill in half, then in half again. "Ok, thanks." She gave a quick and nervous bow.

"No, _thank you_, Miss Takino. We... we just want to make sure Ayumu has a good time and gets home safely," Mr. Kasuga explained.

Without saying anything else, Tomo turned down the hall to Osaka's room. The fingers of her right hand felt the edges of the paper bill in her pocket. What was that all about? It kinda makes sense. After all, Osaka has been known to get lost before. She also remembered times when Osaka would lose important things because she left it behind somewhere or on a bus. Like her umbrella or her bookbag, or even a purse.

But... but... _we just want to make sure Ayumu has a good time..._ Are they... bribing me to go on a date with Osaka? Tomo wondered.

Images flashed in her mind of stupid TV shows she had seen where well-meaning parents would bribe someone to go out on a date with their child for whatever reason. Osaka _is_ a third year high school student who has _never_ had a date before. She just said it herself, that she's never had a boy do anything nice for her. And her parent's _did_ take to accepting the fact that Osaka was dating a girl without even batting an eye. Are they that convinced she's not getting a date unless we hire some girl to go out with her?

Tomo's stomach churned at the possible problems this could mean. It's nicer to think that Osaka's parents are kind and well meaning, but... Tomo didn't have much experience with that kind of parenting. Maybe she had become a little cynical, she thought. Maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt. _But doubt doesn't exist without a reason_, a little voice in her turning stomach told her.

She slid open the bedroom door to see Osaka dressed only in her underwear standing in the middle of the room trying to pull on a pair of pants. Her feet were tangled in the pants legs as she tugged with both hands, which sent her crashing to the floor face forward. Face on the ground and butt in the air, she moaned "Ow, that hurt."

Tomo came over to help her to her feet, then sat her on the edge of the bed before retrieving the pants. Osaka seemed to be unharmed in this latest mishap. Although as Tomo handed her the pants, Osaka suddenly became aware of how little she was wearing. "Oops," she said while turning a little reddish. "Well, the upshot of all this is that now you know out of the two of us, you have the biggest boobs by far."

"Like I didn't know that before," Tomo joked, trying to lift her own tension. She found the top Osaka had been planning to put on and brought that to her, while making it clear she was "averting her gaze".

_Why am I such a bitter person inside, that I always assume other people have hidden motives? Why can't I just accept the idea that those strangers, her parents, just want to do right by their daughter?_

Both girls got ready quickly and walked out to the bus stop. They caught the first bus that was heading to the movie theater.

* * *

About 20 minutes into the movie, Yomi reached over and touched Kagura's hand. With a smile, the athlete extended her fingers and Yomi intertwined hers with them. She enjoyed the soft sensation of Kagura's hand over hers, and pulled their joined hands to rest on her lap.

The movie was about half over when Kagura began kissing Yomi's neck again. She felt hot shivers run down her body each time her girlfriend's lips met her skin. Kagura spoke softly to Yomi. "Do you know what I like about you? Do you?"

Yomi shook her head nervously, looking around to see if anyone could see them.

"Would you like to know?" Kagura asked in a quiet voice, burrowing deep into Yomi's hair to kiss the back of her neck. Yomi suppressed a little squeak.

Kagura continued slowly, "I'll tell you. It's everything about you. From the way you look to the way you think. I like the way you walk and the way you talk." She punctuated each statement with a hint of a kiss on her hair or cheek. "I like your sense of humor and your serious attitude about important things. Sometimes I want to wrap my arms around you and never let you go."

The brunette squeezed Kagura's hand in her own. Her entire body tingled with something that could have been either panic or excitement, she wasn't sure either way. She summoned enough courage to turn her head toward one of Kagura's kisses so that their lips met briefly.

"I like the way you are shy around me in moments like this, but totally self-confident at school. I like the way you look and the way you smell. I like..." Kagura paused.

Yomi was having a hard time keeping her breath, and she looked at Kagura. It seemed the girl was looking almost bashful for a moment.

"I like the way you dress," she said, pressing their joined hands onto Yomi's leg. With her hand being on top, she extended her fingers for a moment, and then curled them closed around Yomi's hand again. With the motion, her fingertips slid along Yomi's thigh, pulling the hem of her skirt up a couple centimeters. "Honestly, you have no idea how sexy those stockings are. The way the skirt and the stockings almost meet, but not quite."

Kagura pulled back into her seat again and took a couple deep breaths. "Wow. I'm sorry if I sound like an idiot or something, but I just can't explain all the things I like about you in a few words."

Yomi surprised them both when she leaned over the armrest "I think you're doing a pretty good job of it," and kissed Kagura long and slow.

* * *

The theater to which the two girls were traveling was located in a small shopping mall. They were both surprised to run into a friend of their's upon arrival.

Osaka said, "Miss Sakaki! What are you doin here today? Are you shoppin?"

Sakaki fidgeted with a blue paper bag she was carrying and nodded. "What are you two shopping for?"

"Nothing. We just came to see a movie in the theater," Tomo replied, pointing over her shoulder.

Sakaki smiled, "Ah, that sounds like fun. A movie with a friend. Well, you two have fun."

Osaka suddenly seemed full of energy. "Miss Sakaki! You should come with us! Yeah! That would be lots of fun! Don'tcha think, Tomo?"

Tomo agreed immediately. Having someone else along made this trip seem less like a date and more like a bunch of friends going out to see a movie. The hardest part would be convincing Sakaki to come along.

Sakaki wavered, "Oh, I don't know. I..."

"Have you got somewhere important to go?" Osaka asked.

"Um, no, but..."

"Then it's decided!" Tomo declared, thinking that would end it.

"Have ya not got enough money? 'Cuz I can just barely cover all of us if ya don't," Osaka said.

"No, that's not it. I can pay for it. I just... haven't been to a movie in a while. What kind of movie are you going to go see?"

Osaka started to say, "Well, it's this guy who comes back from the gr-" but Tomo cut her off.

"It's a romantic tragedy drama. It's about this guy who has come back... from a long trip. His name is Jack, see, and yeah, he has been gone a long time."

Sakaki mused, "Jack, huh? That sounds like an American name."

"Yeah, he's this American guy. He wanted to be a transfer student to Japan, because... well, who doesn't? But it didn't go so good for him. He got... uh... "

"Ripped apart," said Osaka with a happy smile.

Tomo clamped her hand over Osaka's mouth, "Ripped... Away! Yes, he was ripped away from his friends and loved ones. Now he has come back seeking reven- I mean, seeking to be reunited with those he has missed. And it's like all tragic and sad because he has missed them so much, ya know. A lotta catching up to do."

"Oh, I see," the tall girl replied.

"Yeah," Tomo went on, "and it's romantic too. There is this one girl he really has it bad for. It just kills him to think about how much he misses her. So he is dead set on getting back to her right away."

Sakaki smiled at the girls, "That sounds like an interesting movie."

Tomo gave her the thumbs up, "Oh yeah, it's a very uplifting story. Maybe not as uplifting as your bra, but then what is?"

"Ain't much can compete with that," Osaka agreed with a muffled mumble from behind Tomo's hand as she slowly turned blue.

"Oops, oxygen!" Tomo said, releasing Osaka's face. The space cadet gasped for a moment and clung to Tomo for balance as the world did a few quick spins just for her. "So, are you coming?"

"Mm," Sakaki gave an affirmative nod.

"Oh, good. It'll be like a triple date," Osaka said, having regained her breath.

"How's that?" Sakaki wondered.

"Tomo and I are out on a date to go see a movie," Osaka explained. "So with you along by yourself, it's not a double date, I guess you call it a triple date, right?"

"No, I don't think that's what you call it," Tomo said.

"Oh, I don't want to be in the way," Sakaki stopped in her tracks. "I didn't know..."

"No, no, it's ok," Tomo insisted, grabbing Sakaki's elbow and pulling her toward the theater. "You can sit in the middle and you have to stay to the very end. You'll have a blast, I promise."

The three girls got in line for the movie, unaware that Yomi and Kagura were inside watching a different film.

* * *

**_A/N -_**

_Kansai accents: _Yes, Osaka's parents do speak with a Kansai accent somewhat similar to hers. However, they are both trained stage actors, so they can turn it on and off, so to speak. Mostly, I get tired of droppin "g's" off the end of words and inserting double negatives, so I only bother coloring Osaka's speech in writing. Plus I hope to convey the fact that her parents are surprisingly well educated and polite in their manner of speaking, which is not exactly what one might have expected of Osaka's family.

_Yomi's heavenly perfume:_ Do you recognize the name of that fragrance? "Warm Days" and "Cold Nights" are the names of two fanfics by LtStorm. I really like those stories and when you put the names together, doesn't it sound like a cool name for a perfume? I couldn't resist that little insert. grin

_Shirt pockets on school uniforms:_ Yes, as far as I can see there aren't any shirt pockets on the girl's blue sailor suit (seifuku) uniforms. If that seeming continuity error troubles you, I can make up an explanation. Osaka must have had messed up her school uniform the day before and couldn't get it washed/repaired by class time. Japanese students _do_ sometimes come to school in civvies if they have a temporary problem with the uniform (like its ripped or whatever) as long as they get it fixed and they don't make a habit of it. I can't imagine Yukari really caring enough to send Osaka home.

So that day Osaka showed up in a blue skirt and white shirt (with pockets). That is also why she was hanging up a blue jacket; she only wore it so that her ensemble would match school colors. I hope that helps. But you can still hate Ohyama for what he did.

* * *

_**Next chapter coming soon!**_

_**Chapter Eight -**_ It's an all out zombie attack! Oh Yes! Jack is back and he is seeking his revenge! And he's got a blender with _your_ name on it!

The theme song plays: _Jack came back, you thought he was a goner, but..._

Okay, okay, you already know that's a bunch of BS. Let's try this again.

* * *

_**Chapter Eight - Love is Everywhere!**_

Has the love bug bitten Chiyo-chan too? Someone certainly seems to think so. But why is Sakaki the last one to know?!

Also, Tomo finally realizes time is running out to make her confession to Yomi. But can she do it?


	8. Love Is Everywhere

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own any rights to Azumanga Daioh. **

_**Dedication:**_ Yep, I dedicate this chapter to NumaNumaNumbnut! I do have a specific reason for doing so, but I won't say why until the Authors Notes at the end of the chapter. For now I'll say "Inspirational" and if you have been reading NumaNuma's work, you might catch the reference but it's pretty obscure.

_**Warnings:**_ This chapter needs some extra warnings. Cigarettes and alcohol (but not by our six girls), Shoujo-ai, language, some angst, et cetera. Let me know if you think I am pushing it past T rating into M. This is my first big fanfic and I really don't know where to draw the line some days. I'll gladly take advice!

_**Reviews!**_ Thanks for all the reviews. I think everyone here is having problems replying to messages, not just me. Perhaps ff dot net has lost its email system or something. So I'll post some brief replies here because I know some long replies I sent didn't go anywhere. sweatdrop You can skip straight down to the chapter beginning if you like.

_TheTrueWolfBrother_: I'm not sure how to answer your question about Ayumu, but hopefully this chapter will move things along. Is Kagura a horndog? That is a really good question and I am glad you asked. I have one basic thought on this. Out of all six girls in the story, Kagura is the only one who started this story actually knowing her feelings. She is in love with Yomi and knows it for sure. She has been hiding it for a while and finally confessed in chapter two. Yomi didn't know how to take it but is now falling for Kagura too. It feels good to be loved. Tomo on the other hand is realizing deep feelings she has had for Yomi all along but never voiced. Seeing Yomi with someone else has awakened this. She isn't taking Ayumu seriously.

Also, as far as "Horndog" goes, this _is_ a shoujo-ai story, so I can't really write a romance without someone expressing their interest in someone else. Any Azumanga romance is going to mean some OOC behavior of course.

Any appearance by Jack in this or any other chapter is just for a laugh. The hapless male OC who gets killed the instant he got mentioned.

_Jooles:_ Yes, in the Jack vs Osaka smackdown, Jack would certainly go down the drain!

_LaTragicomedia:_ I'm glad you liked the perfume reference. And the zombie movie bit shouldn't be too long. All of the "this and that" shoujo-ai that was happening last chapter is nothing compared to this one. Maybe I should bump to an M rating soon...

_AnimeCrazy195:_ There will be some development in this chapter and the next. This is the first time I have ever tried writing a multi-chapter story, and I actually had a beginning, middle and end in mind when I started. This chapter ends with a scene that I had originally envisioned as the midway point of the story. Of course, I seem to add in a lot extra as I go, with crazy stuff like Jack or Osaka's strange ideas seeping in somehow...

_NumaNumaNumbnut:_ GLOMP! Miss you always. Hope this chapter doesn't kill you with all the YomiKagura goings on. Hopefully Tomo can make up for it.

_RandomlyRandomness_: I believe you are right about pockets. There has to be a pocket somewhere. I think its part of the skirt. Basically I was just hedging my bet on that one, since some people don't like inconsistencies. Maybe I jumped too soon?

And yes, I do think ff dot net is like a family, at least here in the Azumanga Daioh section. We like to give cameos and little nods to other fanfics when we can. I only do it when it slides in naturally, like the perfume name. Oh, maybe that makes us an incestuous family? Urk.

Last, Ohyama is a bigger perv than the girls thought. But his time is coming, oh yes. Tomo won't forget this. The school bell will ring-a-ding-ding for the wildcat's personal class she's gonna teach in chapter nine.

_LonelyArtist:_ Hi! Thanks for the review! So far I only have one vote to bring Kaorin back and none against. So perhaps I'll let the idea percolate in my brain a bit longer. It might do well as a spin-off story, or a separate piece after I finish this story.

_zky-zephyr:_ I am glad you are enjoying it. As long as people are having fun with it, I'll keep it going.

_SephirothBeatrix:_ Hiya Kagura! Getting tired of Jack? Ok, me too. I think after this chapter, I'll go for less Jack. And I figured Tomo would be suspicious of any parent's motives, considering in this storyline her own family is kinda messed up, as you will see this chapter.

_Topaz Fox:_ I agree, the Azumanga girls in the anime seem very real to me, that is what makes them possible to write about, and so fun to read about in other peoples fanfics. It can get a little personal when we get into romantic and family problems, and chapter eight takes a sudden sharp turn.

_Spontaneous Combusken:_ It's always good to hear from you. Osaka's family was tons of fun to write. In fact, anything Osaka related has been a blast so far. Yomi and Kagura have been a bit harder, but Osaka just seems to write her own lines. Hahaha.

* * *

Anyhow, enough of that. I hope the messaging system around here wakes up and in the meanwhile, on with the story!

* * *

_**Chapter Eight - Love Is Everywhere!**_

* * *

_All six girls had become the best of friends in the first year of high school. Yes, they each had their own little quirks but that only seemed to strengthen the bond between them. Their friendship transcended their differences and made them stronger. They had been through some wonderfully fun times and some fairly difficult times as well. Still, they had all stuck together through thick and thin, remaining by each others side always. _

_Which was why it seemed especially tragic that they should find themselves trapped in the high school basement by an blender wielding zombie madman. _

_The tall one said, "I think we should toss Half-pint out the door and make a run for it while Jack is eating." _

_The shortest girl screamed in dismay as the horrifying sound of the blender could be heard reverberating up and down the halls. _

_"No way, no way!" said the short haired girl. "She'd be gone in a snap. Let's toss Chunky out there. At least we'd have a little extra time while he chokes on all her fat." _

_The glasses-wearing brainy girl interrupted this debate with some common sense. "Shup up you idiots. There is a way for us all to escape. In case you haven't noticed, Jack has to keep stopping to plug in his blender. If we wait for the sound to stop, then he probably has it unplugged and is looking for a closer outlet." _

"Ohhh," the girls all nodded at this brilliant plan. 

Tomo said, "No you idiots, he is just looking for a different way into the room! Watch the air vents or something! Check for another way in! Oh, god they are so stupid."

Osaka grinned at the movie screen. "This one is even better than the original movie Jack Attack. Hard to believe the zombies ate everyone else in the school and now it's down to just these six survivors."

Tomo looked over, "Don't forget, there are still those two teachers who barricaded themselves inside the cupboard in the faculty lounge. I think one of them has got that crowbar."

Sakaki's fingernails had long ago penetrated the fabric and stuffing of the armrests and she was now peeling away splinters of the wood with every shriek from the big screen.

"So who is gonna be the first to go?" Osaka said as the suspenseful music continued to build. "Time to place your bets."

"The one with the big boobs," Tomo declared. "It's always the one with big boobs who dies first. Oops, sorry Sakaki. I guess that could be bad news for you, huh?"

_The air vent in the ceiling fell to the ground with a crash as a blood spattered blender lowered down into the room. Buzzing with maniacal menace, it swung in a circle dangling by it's power cord. All six girls screamed and scattered to far corners of the room. _

"Oh man, no way! How did he get the cord to stretch that far?" Tomo yelled.

"Oh, I know," Osaka said, "The prinicpal hanged himself in his office when he was all upset about his secretary mistress cheating on him with the zombie math teacher. Remember? He hung himself with an extension power cord."

"Ah! And Jack went back for it and has extended the range of his weapon! Of course!"

Sakaki whimpered, "This is possibly the most horrible, stupid movie I have ever seen in my life. Please let's go now. Look, I'll pay you back for all our tickets."

Tomo grinned, "You can't go now, here comes the best part! Oh look!" she yelled as the whirling blender caught one of the girls by her long hair and began dragging her slowly inside. "I told ya! Chick with the biggest boobs gets it first! Serves you right, you big breasted bimbo!" she yelled while standing on her seat.

* * *

Yomi didn't notice when the movie had ended. Kagura had to push on her shoulders to separate themselves for a moment to get her attention. "They will be turning the lights on any minute." Yomi's heart was pounding like crazy as she pulled her hands out from under Kagura's shirt and moved back into her own seat. 

Kagura leaned in for one more kiss before picking up her jacket. Other patrons were already starting to get out of their seats and move toward the exits as the credits rolled. Slowly the lights in the auditorium were brought up slightly. "Great movie, huh?" she asked with a grin.

"Yeah, excellent. The best ever. What was it about anyhow?" Yomi asked.

"I have no frickin' idea," Kagura laughed.

The two smiling girls got up from their seats and turned toward the center isle to leave the theater, only to stop cold in their tracks. Across the isle of departing patrons, they could see two other people getting on their jackets from their chairs in the back row.

Yukari and Miss Kurosawa.

Nyamo was rubbing her lips with the back of her sleeve and Yukari was straightening her skirt as she stood up, complaining about how noisy some teenagers in the front of the theater had been. "Yeah, you spiky haired punk, I am talking about you," she pointed at a young man walking out the door with a group of his friends. They exchanged rude hand gestures as he left, and Yukari looked up in time to see Kagura and Yomi standing petrified across the isle.

"Oh crap," Yukari said, dropping her middle finger and swinging her hand behind herself to slap at Nyamo's sleeve.

The PE teacher grumbled, "What? What did I do now?" as she looked up at Yukari. Then she spotted the two girls and her face went bright red just as the lights came up a little more.

Yukari bolted across the row, nearly knocking over an old lady as she jumped in front of Kagura. "What are you doing here? Were you spying on us? You were spying on us, weren't you?! How dare you! Well, it's not what you think. What did you see anyhow? If you think you can get away with this, you are sadly sadly mistaken young ladies. If you even breathe a word-"

Kagura flailed both of her hands in front of her while accidentally stepping back onto Yomi's foot. "No! No, we were just here to see the movie. We didn't even know you were here, honest."

"Yeah? Is that so? Well then," she put her hands on her hips. "Us too. Great movie, huh? Yep, best ever, I'd have to say."

Miss Kurosawa crossed the isle during a moment of less traffic and came up behind Miss Tanizaki. "Hi girls. Did you enjoy the film? I didn't know anyone from school had come to this show. How nice to see you."

"Yeah, you too. Excellent movie," Yomi said. "I was just saying to Kagura that I thought this was an excellent movie," she stammered.

The lights in the theater now came up to full brightness as the credits had ended. The last few people were filing out the doors while Yukari stood blocking the row out for the two girls. Nyamo pulled on her sleeve, "Maybe we should get going now? We had a couple places we wanted to be?"

"Huh? What's that? Ok. Well girls, you have a good evening and I'll see you both in class on Monday morning," Yukari said, giving one last glare at them both as she turned to leave.

They all left the auditorium together in silence and stepped into the lobby. Kagura suddenly said, "Coach? You've got some gum or something stuck on your pants."

Miss Kurosawa looked down to see a pink glob of gum stuck on her slacks just below the right knee. "Oh crud, I must have got that when I..." she began turning red again. Yomi grabbed Kagura's hand and dragged her out the door of the theater and into the mall at a dead run.

* * *

Tomo had figured out a great trick to play on Sakaki. She told Osaka, "Obviously this scares her, so lets help her out." Sakaki nodded desperately. "Here Osaka. Just hold her hand tight like this. See? Now she won't be so scared when the- Ooo, ick, just like that," she said as blood splattered all over the screen in front of them. Tomo had a firm grip on Sakaki's right hand so Osaka took her left. 

This was a momentary relief to the tall girl, having both friends so close to her. However, as the next victim was grinded into a pulp in front of her, she couldn't cover her eyes with her hands, since her "friends" had a firm grip on her hands from either side. And she couldn't plug her ears either, both of which she had been doing throughout the movie.

Some time later, finally the movie ended with a cliffhanger "_maybe-he's-dead-but-is-he-really-gone_" ending so typical of these kind of gore-fest movies. The two girls escorted their shaken friend out of her seat and into the mall.

"Oh yeah, that was awesome! I couldn't believe it took them that long to figure out to cut the power," Tomo said.

"Well, if it was me," Osaka said, "I woulda smacked that dang blender like a piñata when it was hanging from the ceiling. I mean, she had a baseball bat. He can't grind you up if he ain't got no blender."

"Ooo, good point. Sakaki, what would you have done differently?"

The green-faced girl looked at them both, "I would have said _No_ when you asked me to come with you."

Tomo laughed, "Oh come on, come on! It wasn't that bad! Here, let's go get something to eat. Ya wanna hamburger? If you don't feel like eating, we could ask them to stick it in a blender for you."

Sakaki covered her mouth with both hands and made a retching sound.

"Ok, hahaha, maybe not. Let us at least buy you a soda. Ayumu, can we swing that?"

Ayumu opened her purse and inspected the contents of her wallet and coin purse while the other girls paused. "Uh huh. Drinks for all three of us. And then we still have bus fare home and I'm broke."

They guided Sakaki to a table in the main corridor of the mall, just outside a couple restaurants. She was very shaky on her feet, so she was grateful to sit down again. Osaka went inside to get their drinks while Tomo kept their friend company.

"Whoa, are you ok Sakaki? I don't think I have ever seen you this pale before. You're not gonna puke are ya?"

She shook her head uncertainly, "No, but just don't make any more jokes about that movie. In fact, don't talk about it all. Talk about something else."

"Ok. Hey, do you know what is green and red and travels at 200 kilometers an hour?" Tomo asked.

Just then Kagura and Yomi walked out of a restaurant across the corridor. Sakaki and Tomo spotted them about the same time they noticed the two sitting down. They paused in the doorway a moment as if deciding what to do, then came over.

"Hiya," said Kagura.

Tomo stood straight and tall, put her hands on her hips and said "Yo!" Sakaki weakly waved.

"Hi Sakaki," Yomi said. "So what brings you two to the mall today?"

Tomo spoke up quickly, "Oh, Ayumu and I were hanging out here in the mall and Sakaki dragged us in to see some gory movie. Man, this chick is twisted. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff she said in there."

"You're right, I don't believe you," Yomi said. "So Sakaki, what brings you to the mall today?"

"Oh, that's just cold Yomi. You are cold cold cold." Tomo acted like her feeling were hurt, but neither Yomi nor Kagura (or Sakaki for that matter) seemed to pay any attention to it.

"I was just shopping, and I... Oh no! What happened to my bag?" She looked around the area of the table. "I... I think I left it in the theater." She looked decidedly unhappy at the thought of going back there.

"I'll go back and get it for ya, ya big sissy," Tomo declared. "You're turning into as big of an airhead as Osaka." She took off down the corridor of the mall toward the theater, pulling out her ticket stubs from her pocket as she trotted along.

Kagura asked Sakaki, "So did you really go see a movie with her? Or is that more Tomo bullshit?"

Sakaki took a deep breath as she tried to sit up straighter. "Yes, we did go see a movie, but they tricked me into going."

"They?" Kagura asked. "Oh, so is Osaka really here?"

"Yep, I'm really here, live and in person," Osaka said, coming out of the restaurant with a tray. Two large cups of soda and one tea were precariously balanced on the tray and she carried it very slowly and carefully, swaying as if she were balanced on a high wire.

"Here, let me help you with that," Kagura assisted by taking the tray and putting it safely on the table. "Tomo will be right back, she just went-"

"Yeah, I heard."

* * *

Tomo ran to the theater. "Excuse me, but my friend left her bag in the movie. See, here is my ticket." 

The attendant behind the counter looked at the stub. "Jack Attack II, Back From the Grave"? Sorry, we just started another showing in there." He looked at her closely, "Who left something in there?"

"My friend. I am sure you remember her. Tall good looking gal. Huge rack. Looked great going in, looked nauseous coming out?"

He snapped his fingers, "Oh her! You're her friend? Well, ok, come on in. Keiko, cover for me for a couple minutes," he said to a woman cleaning out the popcorn machine. He opened the door for Tomo. "Let's see what we can find."

They proceeded to the auditorium showing that movie and went in. It was still only a few minutes into the show. The big screen displayed a group of high school kids recalling that one weird transfer student who didn't fit in last year and kept coming on to every girl in the school and ultimately died a horrible death. Quite a few people were in the theater watching and were sitting in little groups.

Tomo lead the guy right to their seats and found Sakaki's blue shopping bag and black purse on the floor under the seats. She picked them up with a smile and the attendant mimed a relieved look. When they got back out into the lobby the guy said, "So, my name is Ryo. Is that girl a friend of yours? I don't recall ever seeing her here before."

"Uhh, yeah. It was the first time we ever talked her in to coming with us. Probably the last after that movie."

"Really? Oh, that's too bad. She didn't like it? Well, I'll tell you what," he reached under the counter at the front desk and pulled out two slips of paper. "These are free passes good at any movie in this theater. You can have one and one for your tall friend. So what's her name anyhow?" he smiled.

Tomo looked this guy over. "Sakaki," she said, snatching the two free passes from him. "But I came with another friend of mine. So she'll need one too if we bring her back." She held out her hand and waited. After a moment, he pulled out one more. "Thanks Kyo, I really appreciate it."

"No, it's Ryo, not Kyo!" he said as she dashed out the door.

_I can't believe she gets hit on even when she isn't here! Wow, what I wouldn't do for a set like that! _She even gets free stuff from complete strangers. She did the math in her head as she slowed to a stroll. Three tickets, that's over two thousand yen. Yeah, ok, it probably didn't cost him anything, but still.

"That's it. I am gonna work even harder this year!" she yelled to no one in particular as she crossed the mall toward her group of friends.

Osaka gave her a wave as she approached. "Hi Tomo. I got your drink here. Ya better get it before it loses all of its fizziness," she warned while sipping on her tea.

Tomo plopped Sakaki's bags on the table. "You have an admirer. Some guy who works at the cinema. He gave us each a free ticket, see?" She handed out the free passes to Sakaki and Osaka. "I guess those babys really have some power, eh?"

Sakaki turned slightly red again much to Tomo's amusement. "So I never did hear what you two are shopping for today," Tomo said to Yomi.

"Nothing actually. And in fact," she looked at Kagura who nodded, "although this is not something we want talked about at school, we are on a date."

"What?! A date?!" Tomo poked Yomi in the ribs. "Ooo, I suspected it, but I didn't know you played for the other team."

Kagura said, "What other team? Aren't _you_ here on a date with Osaka?"

Tomo's mocking grin faded as she looked over at Ayumu. "Well, sort of. Uh, I mean yeah but..."

"Yep," Osaka declared, "That proves it. Love is everywhere. Yomi has Kagura. I have my beloved Tomo." Osaka smiled at Sakaki, "Even Chiyo-chan has the love too."

"Huh? What... what do you mean by that?" Sakaki stammered, a slow heat rising to her face, betrayed by a redness to her cheeks.

Yomi turned on Osaka, "Don't be a dimwit. Chiyo is only twelve years old still. She's too young to be in a romance or anything."

Tomo interrupted to defend Osaka, "I don't know about that. Twelve isn't as young as you seem to think. It was only a few years ago for me and I remember having a crush on someone. Romantic, even sexual thoughts and stuff."

"Really? On who?" Ayumu asked with a smiling curiosity.

"Uhh, I'll tell you about it some other time," Tomo murmured, "That's not important to the issue."

"No, the important fact is that you were just a bigger perv as a kid than the rest of us," Yomi said.

"You're at the top of the perv curve!" grinned Kagura.

"Hey, don't start with me Bonkura."

"Bonkura? Look who's talking," Kagura snapped at her. "You were the first and original Bonkura. Everyone else pales compared to your... your... Bonkura-ish-ess-ness."

Tomo shot back, "You don't even know what your talking about now. That's what happens when you pad your bra with your brains. Too bad you can't buy a bra that will push up your IQ as much as they push up your boobs."

"Hey!"

"Or does it already do both? I mean, Kagura when you take off your bra, do you get _even stupider_ ? Well I bet Yomi can answer that question for us." Tomo held out her hand like a microphone at the brunette who slapped it away.

"How would I know about that?" Yomi retorted while Kagura looked upset, "I mean, of course she doesn't get any stupider. Not that I mean she is stupid now! And not that I have ever had a chance to know what happens when she takes off... Arrr! Dammit Tomo! Double chop!" But the wildcat had seen that one coming and jumped back in plenty of time to avoid the head-smashing attack.

"So what is this about Chiyo-chan being in love?" Sakaki asked.

"Y'all think of Chiyo-chan as just some little kid, but there is so much more to her than that. There is love all over that genius head of hers," Osaka insisted.

Yomi added, "Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"I wouldn't have believed it neither if I hadn't heard it myself." Osaka said, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Ya see, it's Chiyo-chan. Her pig-tails are both in love... with each other."

"What?"

"It's like a romantic tragedy of doomed love. Always together, yet eternally apart. The unquenched longing of one for the other. Oh! How they yearn to be united, but it is never to be!" she sniffed.

Tomo looked askance at her supposed girlfriend, "Where did you hear this?"

"The other day... in math class," she replied in a hushed voice.

Yomi laughed, "You were asleep in math class yesterday, I saw you!"

Osaka simply nodded, "That makes even more sense, that their thought-waves can only be sensed by the subconscious mind."

"Unconscious mind is more like it," Kagura said.

Ayumu continued unshaken, "Chiyo-chan's pig-tails were telling each other their dreams of love."

Suddenly she cried out, "They said to each other: Oh! How I have missed your silky embrace! That last time we met in the shower, amidst the confusion of the shampoo and the world of lather! Ah, it was like we danced together for an eternity in an everlasting sea of bubbles.

"But alas, memory of that time is bittersweet, kinda like that herbal balsam shampoo tastes when ya accidentally get some in yer mouth. For it was then that we were so abrubtly parted by the cruel cruel hand of fate. Or was it a hairbrush?

"Our time together is now but a dim and distant memory, washed away like conditioner after that five minute wait."

Osaka paused for a breath, then said, "And that was when Chiyo-chan flew out the window. You don't remember that?"

"Ya'd sure think, wouldn't ya?" Tomo responded.

Sakaki stood up. "I should really get going." She looked at Yomi and Kagura, "You two enjoy the rest of your date. Osaka, thanks for the soda. Tomo... uh... goodbye. I'll see you all in class Monday." She retrieved her bags and downed the last of her drink.

Yomi said, "Yeah, I think it's time we head on as well. See you all later."

Kagura waved at the table of friends, "Bye".

Osaka sipped her tea. "They sure are a good lookin' pair, dontcha think?"

Tomo grumbled, "Yomi and Kagura?"

"No, I was talking about Sakaki. So nice. But since you brought it up, yeah, I think Yomi and Kagura look good together too. That was a pretty blouse Yomi was wearin'. Ya know, with the sexy little roses down the front like that. I never seen her wear it before."

"Yeah, she doesn't wear it often," Tomo said, finishing her soda.

"You've seen her wear it?"

"I bought it for her on her birthday two months ago," Tomo answered, crushing her paper cup and tossing into the trash. "Let's go. I'm getting sick of this place."

* * *

Ayumu followed Tomo out to the bus stop and the two girls shared a fairly quiet ride back to the Kasuga house. Tomo sat looking out the window at the sky as the bus drove. Ayumu leaned up against Tomo, resting her head on her shoulder. 

Tomo couldn't stop thinking about running into Yomi today. She had looked so nice in that blouse. She knew she would, that was why she had saved up for three months to have the money to get it. It was the most expensive present she had ever given anybody.

She also remembered what Yomi had said when she was teasing Kagura. She said she had never seen Kagura without a top, basically. So that means that whatever their dating is about, it isn't physical. Not much, not yet anyway.

When they approached the appropriate stop, Tomo pressed the button to ring the driver. The bus obediently slowed down and pulled toward the curb. Ayumu stood up and stretched, then almost lost her balance when the bus completely stopped. She headed for the exit on the left and Tomo rose to follow her. However, she noticed Osaka had left her purse sitting on the seat, so she grabbed that and jumped off the bus behind her.

"Hey, did you lose something?"

Osaka started checking her pockets until Tomo waved the purse in front of her. Ayumu sheepishly smiled, "Oops. I'm always forgettin' stuff. Thanks. Hey, maybe you should be the one to carry a purse. But does that mean I have to dress like a boy and cut my hair real short now? Oh crud. I kinda like wearin' dresses and pretty hats. Of course, you already cut your hair shorter this year, so maybe you should be the boy. No, that's no good." she gripped her head in both hands, "I don't know what to do. You're better with purses, but I like dresses. You have shorter hair but better breasts. Now I am all confused."

"Nobody has to dress like a boy. Just cool it, ok?" Tomo said.

Osaka sighed in relief. "Oh good. I thought we had a true crisis brewin."

The two walked down the quiet neighborhood sidewalk toward Osaka's home. As they opened the door and stepped in, Osaka yelled at the top of her lungs "I'M HOME!" and kicked off her shoes. Her parents called back that they were in the kitchen, so they changed into the waiting slippers and walked into the dining room to look in through the door.

"Hi girls," Mr. Kasuga said. "Did you have a good time?"

"Oh, yeah!" Osaka said. "We ran into a friend of ours there too and invited her to come see the movie. Then we ran into some other friends afterwards. It was a fun time."

"Wonderful!" he said while stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious. "Tomo, I wasn't sure if you would be joining us for dinner, but you are certainly welcome. Of course Ayumu, we also weren't sure when you two would be home."

"You wanna stay for dinner?" Osaka asked Tomo eagerly.

Tomo thought about it for a moment, but then said, "No, I should probably get home. I never went home after school on Friday and I haven't called them yet, so they are probably getting a little pissed, uh, I mean mad at me by now. I should get going I think."

Mrs Kasuga spoke up, "You didn't call them? Well, I don't mean to interfere, but you know you can use our phone any time you come over. If you need me to speak to your parents, I will be happy to let them know you are visiting a friend's home."

"No, it's cool. Thanks though." She looked down at herself, still wearing the pants and tee shirt she had borrowed from Osaka. "Hey, Ayumu? Do you think my school uniform is dry?"

Mrs. Kasuga said, "Yes, I took it off the line earlier and it is in Ayumu's room."

"I'll go get it for you!" Osaka said as she took off toward her room.

After a moment, Tomo spoke up. "Um, Mr. Kasuga? Here, you can have this back." She held out the 2000 yen bill he had given her earlier.

He looked at the folded money, then handed the stirring spoon to his wife. "Akane, could you take over this for a minute?" He took the money from her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Tomo, thank you for watching out for Ayumu like that. I know it must seem odd, but sometimes a safety net is a good thing." He led her into the living room while they talked. At the television, he lifted the edge of the video player and slid the money underneath.

"This will be emergency money for you and Ayumu. I'm not hiding it here to keep _her_ from knowing about it, but she does have two brothers you know," he laughed. "If you two go out together like this again, Akane and I would feel better knowing you had this in your pocket, if it's not an imposition on you. Is that all right, Miss Takino?"

Suddenly Tomo felt very bad for the suspicions she had been having earlier in the day. "I'm sorry. I mean, yes, thats fine."

"I hope things are going ok for you two," he said. "My wife and I certainly don't want to pry by any means, but you can imagine we have talked about this and we have our concerns. You two have chosen a difficult road. You seem like a very reliable young lady, and that of course makes us very happy. If there is anything we can do, let us know."

"Do about what?" Ayumu asked as she came in carrying Tomo's uniform.

"Oh, anything," Mr Kasuga said. "I was just telling Tomo that your mom and I like her. Also, I'm putting some emergency money aside for you up here in case you need it. We'll talk about that a little later. Maybe during dinner."

Tomo gave a polite bow to Mr Kasuga. "Thank you very much. Please say goodbye to your wife for me." She took the uniform from Osaka and changed back into her shoes in the doorway. As her dad returned to the kitchen, Osaka opened the door for Tomo.

"Thanks for coming over. Maybe next time we can go to your house or somethin." she smiled.

"Ugh. I don't think you'd like that so much. Nah, here is better. See ya Monday," Tomo waved at her.

Osaka said, "Tomo! Wait!"

Tomo stopped, "Huh? Whazzup?"

Ayumu looked at the toe of her shoe as she dragged it across the doorway, "Ain't ya gonna kiss me goodbye?"

The wildcat scratched her head and then turned back to the door. She gave Ayumu a short kiss on the lips and said, "Well, see you Monday at school, ok?"

Ayumu said, "Ok, see ya." She stood in the doorway watching Tomo head down the sidewalk. She stood there until eventually Tomo turned a corner about three blocks away and couldn't be seen any more. Finally, Ayumu turned back inside and slid the door shut.

* * *

Tomo's mother yelled, "Where have you been? Your father is so angry with you!" 

"_My_ father? No, last time I saw him he was in a jar about this big," Tomo said holding up her fingers to measure, "and he didn't seem particularily upset or anything. In fact, he seemed kinda peaceful. Or powdery, take your pick."

The sound of the smack Tomo got across her face could be heard out on the front porch where her step brother Kensuke was. He dropped his half smoked cigarette into the empty pop can he kept out here for the purpose of an ashtray and came into the living room.

He saw Tomo on the floor, pushing herself up with one arm to stand up again. The other hand she had cupped over her cheek. "Hello ladies, what's with the fireworks?" He lightly grabbed Tomo's elbow and helped her to her feet, then stood between them as he looked back and forth.

"How dare you speak of your father that way! You are the most ungrateful little bitch that I-"

Kensuke held up his hands, "Ok, this is giving me a toothache. Tomo, say you're sorry and then we'll get some ice for your cheek, all right?"

Tomo held up her middle finger for his close inspection and said, "Mind your own business for once. And I can say whatever I want about my own father." she peered around him to see her mother, "He is MY father. I didn't say anything about your husband."

Kensuke made a quick motion and grabbed Tomo's extended finger in a tight grip. Then he pulled her with it as he walked out of the room. "Hey mom, I am gonna have Tomo here help me out with something in the kitchen. If you need anything you know where to find us."

Tomo was cursing and swearing at Kensuke, beating him on the back and shoulders with her free hand while she was relentlessly towed into the next room. When he arrived at the refrigerator, he abruptly let go of her finger which sent her tumbling backwards. "Could you grab that towel off the counter for me?" he asked.

She grabbed the towel and threw it at his head. It hit and then fluttered to ground, though he tried and failed to catch it on his foot before it hit the floor. He picked it up and opened the freezer, scooping out a handful of ice.

Tomo's mother wasn't quite done however, and she appeared in the doorway. "There is just no excuse for you being out all hours of the night and not calling." Tomo turned to glare at her.

Kensuke put the small pile of ice into the handtowel and said, "Well, I didn't come home until late last night either and I am pretty sure none of you wants to know what I was doing. And Meiko didn't get home until after 4 am, and when she did she was stone drunk and couldn't find her underpants. So all things considered, I think Tomo is doing better than the average around here."

He hooked two fingers onto the back of Tomo's trousers and pulled her back a step. Peering down he said, "Yep, she's still wearing her underpants so we're all good here."

She spun back to face him and swung her fist at his head, but he had already ducked and stepped back. Tomo's mom muttered something incomprehensable as she shuffled back into the living room.

Kensuke put the ice bundle on the counter and stepped away from it. He gestured toward it with one hand. "There you go. Put that on your face now, it'll make a difference. Trust me, I know. Personally, I need a smoke. I'll be out on the front porch if you want to talk about it."

"Why would I want to talk to you about anything?"

"No frickin idea. Maybe you just want to have somebody who is on your side."

* * *

It was a couple hours later when Tomo decided to talk to Kensuke. Her step-sister Meiko had come home and was changing clothes in their bedroom, reeking of booze and cigarettes and accusing Tomo of stealing or hiding various items of clothes. When Meiko lit a cigarette in their bedroom even though it was technically off limits, Tomo opened the window and then left the room. She knew complaining about it wouldn't bring any better luck than any other time. 

She walked to the front porch but of course Kensuke was long gone. So she went upstairs to find if he was still home. She knocked on his door lightly. "Come in," she heard.

Tomo slid the door open slowly. "Oh, its you. Well, don't just stand there, come on in." She looked around his room. Kensuke lived in the tiny attic of the house that had been converted into a bedroom. His room was especially crowded, not just from the low sloping ceiling but also because of they way he lived. It always looked like he was just moving in or moving out. He had boxes of stuff lined up against the walls. Also he had too many clothes, she decided. She didn't come up here that often and hadn't seen his room in over a year.

Well, actually that was a lie. A couple times when she had come home from school and no one else was home yet, she had gone up and snooped around. She had found his cigarettes which didn't interest her. She had found a shoebox full of photos, many had pictures of his mother who had passed away several years ago. She also had found a few magazines. Tomo used to wonder if Kensuke was gay. Well, after seeing those she didn't need to wonder any more.

"What's up, porcupine?" he asked her.

"Wildcat. I hate that old porcupine nickname. Wild. Cat. Wildcat. And nothing's up, I just was passing by."

"Ah, climbing a flight of stairs that goes nowhere but here, you were passing by. That's ok. I don't get many visitors. Welcome aboard, Lady Wildcat."

Tomo softened a bit and gave him a smile. Unfortunately there was nowhere to sit down. There was only futon on which he slept, which is where he was at the moment, or the choice of three piles of clothes to sit on. Clean, semi-clean, and dirty. None of them appealed to her as a place to sit, so she stayed by the door.

Kensuke said, "Now you are making me nervous. Would you rather we go out on the porch and talk?"

Tomo said, "No thanks. Your dad is in the living room and I don't want to go through there right now. Here is good. I'll sit here," and she plopped down onto a bare spot of floor, of which there was very little.

"Too late," he said. "Now I want a smoke. Slide the door open a little and turn on that fan by your knee." He pushed open the window and climbed out onto the tile roof. He leaned in and pulled out another empty soda can from a container for recycling and put it on the windowsill next to him. He reached over and got his cigarettes and lighter. The fan began to blow a steady breeze at the window so it would presumably carry most of the smoke away from the house, rather than letting it be inside.

"Meiko is a nasty drunk," he said. "She must be an awful roommate. I heard her come home a little while ago. Is she giving you a bad time again?"

"No. Yes. Nothing different than usual."

"Ah, I thought maybe that is why you wanted to come up here."

Tomo aimed the fan at the window a little better. "No, mostly I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to be the crazy lady when I got home. I also wanted to let you know... I appreciate what you did. Thanks."

"No problem. That is what gay step-brothers are for, isn't it?"

Tomo smiled at his attitude and nodded. "I guess so."

They sat in silence for a couple minutes and Kensuke turned on his little radio under the window. Music flowed out, sounding funny in the tiny attic.

Finally he put his cigarette out in the can and fastened it to the windowsill so it wouldn't blow away. Then he climbed back in and sat on the futon. "Since you are so unusally quiet today, I'll tell you what is on my mind, ok?" When Tomo nodded, he continued. "I think you have it hardest here. Really, I have thought about it and you do. My dad, well, he freaked out when he found out I was gay of course. That was long ago. He pretty much has given up on me, in his opinion.

"Meiko is a wild drunken slut. She can get pretty mean when she's drunk and doesn't remember it the same when she is sober. She scares the hell out of both of them some days. Your mom seems to keep her distance from both Meiko and me and just let dad deal with us. But you, she still seems to think she should be able to control. And she gets dad to back her up on it when she comes down on you. So you get two angry parents at the same time." He noticed her cold look, so he changed his wording. "One angry parent and an angry step-parent. You know what I mean."

"That's not what bothers me. You make it sound like my mom is the one who is the cause of everything. Your dad is an asshole too."

"Ok, sorry again. You are right. He is. I know first hand. He has been my dad a lot longer than he has been your step-father. He can be pretty harsh and always has been to me. At least until he finally seems to have decided I'm not worthy of it, or something. Now some days he won't even speak to me if I am standing right in front of him. Which is worse? Is it wrong to miss getting hit? But it comes back to you. He does still pay attention to you, for whatever reason. I'm not blaming your mom. Not entirely. Because he's still an ass whether she is here or not."

"Yeah," Tomo sighed, feeling more depressed by the minute.

"But you have to realize something. Because you know this, you can do something about it. You already know what buttons to push to piss them off. I heard you doing it today. But you can also know what buttons to push to NOT piss them off too. Call them if you are staying over night somewhere. I am surprised Yomi's mom didn't call, she usually does."

"I wasn't at Yomi's," Tomo said.

"Ah. I see. A new friend?" The silence hung for a moment.

"I came up here to ask you something," Tomo said while tugging on the sleeve of a shirt in the "kinda clean" pile. "Have you ever... Have you ever been in love?"

"Ohhhh, now I get it. Love. To answer you honestly, no. I have never been in love. I hope someday to find true love. Until then there is sex. However, I think it's better to find love first, then let everything else flow naturally from there. But it didn't happen that way for me. Of course, being gay makes it harder probably, in its own way.

"You have it easy. You are a very pretty, lively girl. You probably have all kinds of boyfriends at that school," he grinned.

But Tomo didn't smile back at him. Instead she picked at the button on the sleeve of the shirt she had found. "What if... What if you found someone? What if there was someone you really cared about but you had never been able to say anything… because you..." she stopped.

"Because you were afraid?" Kensuke laughed. "Trust me on this one thing if nothing else. I understand that . I am the King of Being Afraid. And probably for good reason. You tell a baseball player at school that you think he is cute, well a girl can do that, but me? I'd get killed.

"Still, boy or girl, rejection is hard. Even if you tell that baseball player you think he is cute, if he says he has someone else or isn't interested, that's hard. But it's a risk you sometimes have to take. Because your other option is to be afraid forever."

"But what if it's too late? What if they already found someone else? What then?" Tomo asked.

"Oooo, you do have the tough moral dilemmas for me tonight. Is it better to stay quiet and let them find happiness, or should they know your true feelings so they can make their own decisions? Let me ask you a couple questions. Is that ok?" When he received a nod, he continued, "This guy you think you might love, is he a high school student too?"

Tomo opened her mouth but nothing came out. Finally she managed, "A third year. Yes."

Her step brother climbed back out through the window to lay on the roof. The lighter flicked in the moonlight. "See, here is my opinion. You are not going after some married man who has a set life with vows and children and all that. You are both still just kids, pardon my saying so, but you are. So whatever relationship he has now is a high school romance. These are nice, but they don't always end up lasting forever. How many married couples in Japan do you think were high school sweethearts? It's romantic, but it isn't realistic."

Tomo frowned, "You are losing your audience. What's your point?"

"My point is this. Whatever his relationship now might be, it probably isn't permanent. They aren't married, they aren't engaged. This is your youth, the time of life to discover love. I say confess your love. If he is actually in love with this other girl, then you'll get rejected and that will be hard. But he may decide that he loves you instead, or maybe he has all along. Or maybe their relationship isn't as serious as you think. They might be just flirting. You don't gain anything if you don't try. Otherwise you just end up getting older and living in your parent's attic. You can have that corner over there behind the Spanish matador shirts that I was all excited about last year."

"Confess... your love," Tomo said.

* * *

Tomo ran barefoot down the street. She hadn't bothered to even stop to put on her shoes. It was pretty late at night but she didn't care. The sound of her feet slapping the pavement with every step made a quick smack-smack-smack-smack sound in the darkness, reverberating off the houses around her as she flew by. 

She knew Yomi would probably still be up. Sitting and listening to one of those stupid radio shows she liked so much.

There was no car in the drive at the Mizuhara house, so perhaps that meant they were all gone. Maybe just her parents had gone out for the evening and Yomi was still home.

She ran across the lawn, the grass feeling springy and slightly moist under her feet. Reaching the window, she smiled to herself. Confess your love! Yomi has to know!

As her hand reached for the edge of the window, she saw motion inside the darkened room. The lights were out but the moonlight streamed down through the glass to reveal Yomi inside. But Yomi wasn't alone. Kagura was there with her. And they were kissing.

They were more than kissing. Kagura's shirt was open and Yomi's arms were around her, her hands on her back. Kagura's hand was on Yomi's thigh, caressing her leg across the top of her stockings and sliding upward toward her skirt. Her other hand was on Yomi's cheek, gently touching her face and pulling her into a deeper and deeper kiss.

Tomo stepped back in shock. This… this isn't right. This isn't how it's supposed to go. Yomi should be home alone doing her homework. Tomo would climb in and bounce on the bed to distract her. Eventually Yomi would ask why she came over and that is when Tomo could tell her the truth. It would be a lot of work to convince her that she wasn't joking but Yomi would get it. She would understand. Then everything could be all right again. This knot in her stomach would finally go away and Yomi would be there for her like always, only now Tomo would be there for Yomi too.

Yomi's hands slid upward to Kagura's shoulders, and Kagura's shirt began falling down her arms. Tomo stepped back from the window. She didn't want to see this. She took several steps backwards away from the window but she could still see the outline of the two moving inside.

_Run. Run away. Get out of here. I can't be here now. Everything has gone wrong._ But her feet wouldn't move. It felt like nails pierced her feet, holding her in this spot. A cold paralysis spread up her legs rooting her in place. _Get away!_

Something lightly hit the window from inside but was gone in an instant. Tomo tried again to move but couldn't. The thing that she had seen had only been there for a brief moment, but she knew what it was.

A cream colored blouse with delicate red roses embroidered down the front.

Her legs collapsed underneath her and she fell to her knees. Pitching forward onto the lawn, she managed to catch herself by landing her palms on the grass.

All alone under the cold moonlight, Tomo Takino cried harder than she had since the day her father died.

* * *

**_Closing A/N:_**

_Dedication:_ So why is this particular chapter dedicated to NumaNumaNumbnut? When Numa posted the first chapter of _AzuDai: Couple Poems and Love Letters_; it struck me as a very interesting concept. Of course, I love the shoujo-ai in stories, and I think love notes and love confessions are the most fun and romantic things in anime, even when they turn out as a rejection. I think it's that whole "Oh My God, what's gonna happen?" feeling the viewer gets, or reader in the case of fanfics.

In Azumanga Daioh, as we often discuss, there are so many possible pairings. Some good, some bad, some funny, some just plain wrong (Kimura/Anyone?). And Numa's story got me to thinking of what would be the absolute weirdest possible love letter in all of AzuDaioh. That got me to Osaka of course. And that got me to thinking of her obsession with Chiyo's pigtails and what if she thought they were passing love notes to each other? Thus, this nutty Osaka-ism was born. Thanks Numa, for jump starting my brain down another weird path!

_Always together, yet eternally apart _ : Once I had the idea of the pigtails in love, this phrase popped into my head. Yes, it is a paraphrase of a line from an old and very well known 80's movie. A cookie for the first person to name that movie ! It makes me laugh just to think I made a connection between Chiyo-chan's pigtails and that movie. Hahaha. Secondary disclaimer: I own no rights to that movie either.

_Ryo:_ I don't plan to have the movie house guy back as a recurring character, as my story has NO OC ROMANCES. However in the anime, we all knew Sakaki was hot but we rarely saw anyone other than Kaorin acknowledge that (except for Tomo and Osaka admiring the size of her bust).

_Tomo's dad in a jar?_ Remember, her natural father is dead in this story and she now has a step-father. She is talking about the funeral urn that holds her true father's cremated remains. One beta reader asked me if I meant Tomo was a test tube baby or something. No, this is about a jar of ashes.

_Kensuke:_ Yeah, Tomo's step brother turns out to be a nicer guy than she wants to admit. However, he is not a potential romance for any of the AzuGirls. He's gay. Really and truly. Now, Ohyama or Kimura might be in for some trouble if they come over to Tomo's house but not the girls.

* * *

_**Next chapter coming soon! **- Chapter Nine will be 100 percent Jack-free and with no added preservatives or artificial flavors! Four out of five dentists might recommend Chapter Nine to help fight tooth decay! _

Tomo's in the dumps. Osaka makes a surprising announcement. Ohyama gets a new hairdo. Yukari couldn't care less about any of it.

And that's all true except for maybe the part about the dentists. Probably.


End file.
